AUSSIES TAKE SHOT AT DOPE

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- Australia's first legal heroin shooting gallery
will open in Sydney next year as part of an effort to get addicts off
the streets, officials said yesterday.

A radical revamp of New South Wales state drug laws also includes
trials of a compulsory treatment program for light users of heroin,
speed, LSD and ecstasy.

The Catholic order of the Sisters of Charity and St. Vincent's
Hospital will run a medically supervised injecting room for 18 months
in Kings Cross, Sydney's nightclub district.

The head of St. Vincent's Hospital alcohol and drug service said the
injecting room could expect 50,000 visits a year and prevent up to 40
overdose deaths.