NO MAGIC CURE FOR DRUGS: CARR

On the eve of his controversial drugs summit, NSW Premier Bob Carr
said the forum won't produce a magic cure for the heroin scourge.

Mr Carr said he had realistic hopes rather than high expectations for
the summit.

``There's no instant solution. Action against drugs will only work if
we've got every part of the community working together,'' Mr Carr said.

The five-day summit was born out of concern at a newspaper photograph
of a teenage boy shooting up heroin on a Sydney street before the
March state election.

The issue rekindled the national debate on how the drug epidemic
should be handled, sparking renewed calls for a heroin trial and safe
injecting rooms.

In defiance of drugs laws, a church-backed injecting room was opened
at Sydney's Wayside Chapel, only to be temporarily closed late last
week after a police raid.

Debate has also raged over the invitation list to the summit, which
has been widely criticised for not including certain stakeholders,
including Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery.

Mr Cowdery supports radical changes to drug laws, including a heroin
trial.

A group of drug users and supporters also plans to protest outside
State Parliament House in Macquarie St as the summit opens at 9am.

``You've got to understand that there are many opinions on every
aspect of the drug problem but we are doing our best, without renting
the Entertainment Centre, to make it as representative as possible,''
Mr Carr said in defence of the invitation list.

The only known drug user who is speaking at the summit, Annie Madden,
from the NSW Users and AIDS Association, said she would have liked
more users to have been invited, as there would be a limit as to how
much she as an individual would be able to contribute.

The summit delegates, led by former Victorian premier Joan Kirner and
National Party stalwart Ian Sinclair, will debate and vote on
recommendations coming from 11 working groups.

One of the topics almost certain to be discussed at the forum is safe
injecting rooms for drug addicts.

An illegal shooting gallery was shut down at the Wayside Chapel in
Sydney last Thursday after police raided it and arrested a man.

The chapel's Reverend Ray Richmond warned the room would immediately
reopen and supporters would consider mass demonstrations if the summit
was ``weak or equivocal'' on the issue of safe heroin injecting rooms.