CALL FOR SAFE INJECTING ROOMS IN PUBLIC HOSPITALS

A western Queensland shire council is proposing safe injecting rooms
in the state's public hospitals to stop the problem of needles being
found on the streets.

Belyando Shire Council, southwest of Mackay in central Queensland,
will push the idea at next week's Local Government Association meeting.

Mayor Matthew Athanassiadis said he had already spoken with local
hospitals and received some support for the rooms, where addicts could
safely use drugs and dispose of needles.

Athanassiadis told ABC Radio he was not expecting much support from
his local government colleagues, but politics should be left out of
the issue.

"One of the reasons we're bringing it up is we expect to have a pretty
firey reception over this issue, but at the end of the day, at least
we've brought it up," he said.

"We don't sit there and ignore the problem; let's think about it,
there might be some other ideas that might come up."

A spokesman for Queensland Health Minister Wendy Edmond said the
government would not support the proposal because it was against
government policy.