NUNS TO RUN HEROIN ROOM

Australia's first legal heroin injecting room will be established in Kings
Cross and run by the Sisters of Charity and St Vincent's Hospital, under the
NSW Government's dramatic overhaul of the State's drug laws. Announcing the
third and final plank of the Government's response to the Drug Summit
yesterday, the Premier resolved that the problem required compassion. Mr
Carr made it clear he would continue to take a strong stand on law and
order, and he said he would abandon the injecting room if it did not work
after an 18-month trial.

But he said: "If you want a solution to the drug problem then you'd better
go to a crossword puzzle, because there aren't any solutions here as long as
people are reckless enough to inject heroin into their veins. "But there are
different ways of managing this problem in which we might save lives, in
which we might get more people into treatment and which might protect people
in the community from needles in the streets, in the playgrounds ... and the
horrifying news that can reach parents that their child is in casualty
because of a drug overdose.

"That is my goal here. That is what the people of this State asked me to do,
that is what I'm about ... there were hard choices involved on the way but
we took them." The Government's decision was widely acclaimed by community,
parent and medical organisations. The eminent immunologist Professor Ron
Penny described the package as "one of the most outstanding achievements for
public health in the drugs area in two decades". "This will not just help in
the control of HIV among injecting drug users," Professor Penny said. "The
overall community will reap enormous rewards from, on the one hand,
preventing drug use, on the other, providing a socially just approach which
gives more care and treatment, more attention and rehabilitation to drug
users inside and outside jail."

However, the Opposition Leader, Mrs Chikarovski, strongly opposed the
injecting room trial.

While she welcomed Government initiatives such as more funding for
detoxification schemes and moves to increase security in detention centres,
she said: "I am still concerned about the message sent to children that
injecting drugs can be seen as safe in any way."

Mr Carr said three further legal experiments would be held in a bid to
divert drug offenders, and particularly young people, out of the grim cycle
of courts and jail. They include:

* A 12-month pilot of a Victorian scheme which allows offenders to agree to
compulsory assessment and drug treatment instead of court. This will only
apply to first-time offenders caught with minimal amounts - 0.5 grams of
heroin or cocaine compared with Victoria's 3 grams. If treatment is not
followed, police can pursue court proceedings. This trial will be held in
the Illawarra and on the far north coast.

* A year-long, Statewide trial of a caution system for people caught with 15
grams or less of cannabis. Again, police can trigger court proceedings and
only two cautions will be allowed. On the third, the offender will be
charged.

* Starting in July next year, offenders eligible for bail but who have a
drug problem will be forced to undertake drug treatment as a condition of
their bail. This will be trialled in Lismore Local Court. The 18-month trial
of the Kings Cross injecting room will be the only one in NSW and will be
staffed by a medical supervisor, security staff, a registered nurse and
counselling staff.

It is expected to open seven days a week, starting next year. Guidelines
will be developed with the Sisters of Charity Health Service over the next
few months and will require approval from the head of the Health Department
and the Police Commissioner.

An assessment of its aims - saving lives, moving users off streets and local
properties and steering them into treatment - will be assessed by a
specialist team. This will include Associate Professor Richard Mattick, from
the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, and Dr Don Weatherburn, head
of the Bureau of Crime Statistics.