DRUGS STREET FIGHT PLAN TO TACKLE POINT OF SUPPLY

STREET-LEVEL drug dealing is widespread in Adelaide, just as it is around
the nation.

Heroin and amphetamines are the most common drugs sold on the street, new
research shows.

This was one reason the focus of Operation Mantle would swing to heroin and
designer drug dealers, Police Commissioner Mal Hyde said yesterday.

The Drug Strategy Household Survey, compiled by the Australian Institute of
Health and Welfare, found about 25 per cent of heroin users and 12 per cent
of amphetamines users bought their "hits" on the street.

Only 5 per cent of cannabis users bought from street-level dealers.

Mr Hyde said the survey "confirms our view that street-level dealing is a
significant area to concentrate on if you are trying to restrict access to
drugs".

"In terms of the actual supply of drugs to users it is a key point of
supply," he said.

"A lot of people are engaged in selling drugs, some of them to feed a habit
but many others are there for the financial gains."

Mr Hyde said New South Wales crime statistics research had shown police
operations could convince drug users to kick the habit.

Of all the heroin users who tried to rid themselves of the habit, as many
as 60 per cent did so to avoid more brushes with police or the courts.

"Police operations act as a catalyst to breaking the cycle of those
involved in drug use," he said.

"I think that is a feature which has been underplayed over the years and it
really indicates that law enforcement can have a very legitimate role in
dealing with drug use."

Research also shows:

THE average age of injecting drug users was 28 and they first injected when
they were about 18.

MORE than half of injecting drug users took drugs at least once a day.

HEROIN was the drug used most commonly by injecting drug users (52 per
cent) while the second most popular was amphetamines (21 per cent).