DRUG REFORMS NOT A DEFEAT

Health workers today said radical reforms passed by the New South Wales Drug
Summit did not mean the war on drugs had been lost.

Reverend Bill Crews of the Exodus Foundation said introducing measureslike
heroin shooting galleries was an acceptance of reality, not an admission of
defeat.

"I don't know if you can use the words war on drugs like that but I think
there's an awareness now that we have to live with a significant, serious
social problem," Rev Crews said.

He praised Premier Bob Carr's leadership in considering the measures but
warned he must not buckle if they proved controversial in the community.

"It's up to us to put the lead in his pencil," he said.

AIDS Council of NSW (ACON) chief executive Robert Griew said Mr Carr began
changing his conservative stance on drugs before the NSW election and the
summit provided the final impetus for him and other MPs.

"It was hard for a lot of them, not just him, and I think that's really
courageous," Mr Griew said.

Injecting rooms had the potential to cut the number of heroin overdose
deaths from 600 to 50 a year and would be accepted by the community, he said.

"They're brave because they're controversial but we're talking about a
couple of trials in the context of massive increases in treatment," he said.

"I think the government read that and the community wants it."