UN DRUGS AGENCY THREATENS BAN ON $160M POPPY TRADE

The international drugs body at the centre of the row over proposed
heroin injecting rooms confirmed yesterday that Australia's $160
million-a-year legal opiates trade could be put at risk should the
trials proceed.

A spokesman for the Vienna-based United Nations agency said Australia
could ultimately face an international embargo of its opiate exports.

However, it would be the first embargo against a signatory to the 1961
convention on narcotic drugs and according to the spokesman the agency
would be "extremely reluctant" to recommend such a penalty.

In the three decades since the convention was ratified (in 1968), the
International Narcotics Control Board has only threatened action
against countries five times. But sanctions were avoided after each
country backed down.

"Ultimately the issue was solved because the pressure was such that
the country did not want to be named at the [UN's] Economic and Social
Council of being in breach of the treaty," the secretary to the board,
Mr Herbert Schaepe, told the Herald.

Germany could also face censure if the Schroder Government proceeds
with plans to legalise injecting rooms. However, the stakes are not as
high because Germany does not export opiates.

Asked whether the board, for this reason, held a bigger stick in its
dealings with Australia, Mr Schaepe replied: "If you want to see it
like this, yes."

Tasmania has Australia's only legal opium poppy and it worth about
$160 million to that State's economy. The closely regulated crop is
grown by 1,000 farmers for pharmaceuticals and last season covered
about 16,000 hectares.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, has appealed to Victoria, NSW and the
ACT to put proposed injecting room trials on hold because of the UN
agency's advice.

The States have indicated that they may proceed with the trials
without the backing of the Federal Government.

In such circumstances, said Mr Schaepe, Canberra would be obliged to
take action to ensure the convention was observed.

Two other countries - Spain and Luxembourg - are believed to be
considering injecting room trials, while in Switzerland and the
Netherlands some rooms are operating with the blessing of local
authorities but without strict government approval. Denmark is
understood to have shelved its plans for "shooting galleries" after
consulting the UN board in March.

Mr Schaepe said the International Narcotics Control Board was
particularly anxious about the "proliferation" of injecting room
trials as distinct from trials involving the supply of heroin to
addicts, which have been running in Switzerland and Holland since 1997.

The latter escape censure because they are being conducted under
medical supervision, although the board remains "extremely sceptical"
about the value of these trials in the international fight against
drug abuse.

It also blames the trials for a rash of other heroin experiments which
Mr Schaepe said were spreading "like a virus". "These things
immediately find a lot of imitators, whether the thing makes sense or
not."

According to Mr Schaepe, the board's chief objection to injecting
rooms is that they amount to the sanctioning of illicit drug use and
represent a continuing creep towards the legalisation of heroin.

Mr Schaepe said the board understood Australia had a "tremendous
problem" with illicit drug use and the need for remedies but believed
injecting rooms were the "wrong way to go".