HEROIN DEALING AREA RULED OUT

A grass-roots push for a heroin dealing area in the City of Greater
Dandenong has been stamped out by the Premier, Mr Steve Bracks.

The chief executive of the council, Mr Warwick Heine, said he had
included the issue as a "discussion point" for a meeting of
parliamentarians from the area, councillors and council officers last
week.

But the councillors and MPs at Friday's meeting said unanimously they
would not support a dealing area and Mr Bracks said he was "totally
against" the concept.

Residents and traders of the Dandenong area - earmarked as one of the
sites for an injecting facility by the Labor Government - had been
pushing the idea, Mr Heine said.

Many locals felt they stood to gain little if an injecting house was
established in the city but drug dealing persisted in other parts of
the municipality, he said.

If residents maintain there can be no injecting house without a
dealing area, the fledgling Government's program could be imperiled.
Labor has pledged no injecting facilities will be set up without
council and community support.

Mr Heine and the mayor of the city, Cr Naim Melhem, do not back the
dealing proposal, and Cr Melhem said he was yet to decide whether he
would vote to give in-principal support to a facility for heroin users.

Cr Melhem agreed the dealing issue had only been on the table because
of the sheer number of complaints the council had received from people
who did not want a injecting facility in the area if the dealing
remained a visible presence.

Mr Heine said the issue was one of many discussed at the meeting, part
of a regular series designed to keep MPs abreast of local matters from
the council's perspective.

Mr Bracks said yesterday a safe dealing area would not be endorsed by
Labor. "This is not something that the State Government supports at
all. In fact, quite the opposite."

It contradicted the Labor Government's plan to target drug dealers
with an increased police presence, Mr Bracks said.

"We want to have less dealing and clamp down on dealers. There's no
safe dealing proposals under the new Government."

In 1997, a majority of councillors at Dandenong backed in-principal
the concept of a clinical heroin trial, such as the one proposed for
Canberra, but not necessarily within the bounds of the
municipality.

None of the councils where safe houses could be set up - Dandenong,
Melbourne, Maribyrnong, Port Phillip and Yarra - have offered
unconditional support for the facilities.

All have said extensive consultation with local communities was
essential before a decision was made and injecting facilities were set
up.