KENNETT OPEN TO DRUG SAFE-HOUSE

A safe injecting room for heroin users could be established in Melbourne if
health experts persuade the Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, that such a facility
is warranted.

Mr Kennett said yesterday that he was not opposed to the idea and would
meet with health officials over the next few days to discuss the matter.

His comments came as the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, condemned moves in
New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory to set up legal trials
of safe injecting rooms.

His disappointment was obvious as he admitted that he was powerless to ban
the rooms that ``send the wrong signal''.

But drug workers and welfare agencies yesterday said a trial of safe
injecting facilities, where heroin overdose victims could be revived and
users referred to rehabilitation services, should be the next step in
fighting Australia's heroin problem.

The NSW Premier, Mr Bob Carr, this week announced that an 18-month trial of
one safe room in Sydney's notorious King's Cross would begin next year.

The room, open 24 hours, would be operated by St Vincent's Hospital and the
Sisters of Charity, and staffed by a medical supervisor, a registered
nurse, security workers and counsellors.

But Mr Carr yesterday admitted he had been ``torn in half'' by the issue
and was not convinced he had made the right decision.

The ACT Government plans to open a safe injecting room before Christmas.

Mr Kennett said he had been advised that an injecting room in Melbourne
might not be widely used. Some users, ``the people that are more in control
of their own lives'', might use the room but ``desperate addicts'' were
more likely to shoot up in an alley as soon as they bought drugs.

He was also concerned about the potential legal repercussions for those
running safe houses.

Legislation must be devised to protect the operators from possible legal
action by surviving family members in the event of a death, he said.

The issue of legal liability if fatal overdoses occurred in Sydney's safe
injecting room was still to be clarified, said Dr Alex Wodak, of St
Vincent's Hospital's alcohol and drug service.

He said no deaths had occurred in the legal rooms operating in Switzerland,
Germany and the Netherlands.

The Victorian Opposition's health spokesman, Mr John Thwaites, called on
the Government to set up safe injecting rooms. ``Mr Kennett is being too
cautious ... about losing votes. It's more important to save lives than to
save votes,'' he said.

Father Peter Norden, the director of Jesuit Social Services, also believes
Victoria should follow the interstate lead.

Mr Joseph O'Reilly, president of the Victorian Aids Council, said safe
facilities needed to be established as ``a matter of urgency''.

The Sisters of Charity chief executive, Ms Tina Clifton, yesterday denied
the nuns' role in the Sydney safe room was ``a brave decision''. ``We are
there to get people to recover from addiction, and this service isn't the
be-all and end-all. It doesn't solve the problem unless we get people into
rehabilitation,'' she said.