CARR URGES INJECTING ROOMS IDEA

PREMIER Bob Carr last night urged delegates at the NSW Drug Summit to pass
a resolution allowing shooting galleries.

Mr Carr said he wanted the Government to consider the proposal but did not
reveal whether the Government would agree to it.

"I would want to consider over the next six weeks the proposal set out in
3.15 rather than what's indicated in a range of amendments set out before
you," Mr Carr told the delegates.

Proposal 3.15 says that governments should not veto proposals for trialling
safe injecting rooms from non-government organisations.

Delegates were last night set to debate whether to recommend that the
Government allow Australia's first legal heroin shooting gallery a
resolution moved by Independent MP for Bligh, Clover Moore.

Earlier delegates began debating the more than 170 resolutions to come out
of the week-long summit. Among the first to be passed were plans to extend
the Drug Court program to include children, and the enhancement of police
powers to help them catch dealers and traffickers.

Removal of jail penalties for possession and cultivation of small
quantities of marijuana, and legalisation of self administration of drugs
were also expected to be adopted by delegates.

While the State Government does not have to adopt resolutions passed by the
summit, NSW could find itself a national leader in drug reform in the wake
of the gathering. Resolutions passed by delegates today will be included in
a communique to be debated by the NSW Parliament in a month's time.

Delegates passed unanimously the plan to extend the NSW Drug Court to
children.

A drug court operating in Parramatta for adults already allows non-violent
offenders to opt for strictly supervised rehabilitation instead of jail.

"There should be established a pilot program for a Children's Drug Court as
part of the Children's Court system, to be adequately resourced for the
treatment and rehabilitation of young people with alcohol and other drug
problems," the resolution said.

The summit also endorsed calls for Police Commissioner Peter Ryan to
"clarify" laws relating to search warrants and listening devices to help
apprehend drug dealers and traffickers.

Attorney-General Jeff Shaw was expected to tell the summit last night that
a system of police cautioning for minor drug offenders would "prevent the
first step to criminality".