OFFICIAL PUSH TO DECRIMINALISE INJECTING HEROIN

The act of injecting heroin would be decriminalised under a recommendation
expected to be presented at next week's Drug Summit - after a top-level
inquiry by the Attorney General's department. A special working group has
recommended the laws against self-administration be abolished after it
investigated the case of a man charged with manslaughter for passing a clean
syringe to a fellow addict. The addict later overdosed and died.

Health authorities fear the case could discourage the common practice of
users picking up clean syringes, for themselves and their friends, from
needle-exchange programs.

The 26-year-old man is the first person to be charged with manslaughter for
aiding and abetting self-administration. His trial is set down for August,
and the case prompted the creation of the group within the criminal law
division of the Attorney General's Department to look at its implications.

The manslaughter charge was originally laid in September 1997 on the basis
of negligence, as the man allegedly had not aided the 21-year-old man during
his overdose. However, this is understood to have been amended to a charge
of manslaughter on the basis of aiding and abetting self-administration.

According to Dr Lisa Maher, a senior lecturer in medical education at the
University of NSW, the public health repercussions are paramount.

"This issue has made young people very concerned about the implications of
the case," she said. "They know the young man, they know what happened and
what he is alleged to have done is an extremely common practice.

"Often young people are reluctant to present to services for needle and
syringe exchange, so one young person will pick up the many others and
distribute clean ones among their friends. From a public health point of
view, it is a practice to be encouraged. It increases sterile equipment and
decreases circulation time of used equipment." Dr David Dixon, a drug law
specialist at the University of NSW, has been a strong advocate of the law
change. Yesterday, Bureau of Criminology head Dr Don Weatherburn and St
Vincent's Hospital's Dr Alex Wodak all called on the State Government to
decriminalise self-administration. Dr Dixon said the recent Drug Strategy
Conference in Adelaide, organised by law enforcement and police agencies,
accepted a similar proposal.

"Many who work in the AIDS area feel that a retention of those laws acts as
a deterrent for needle and syringe program participants to return needles
and syringes," Dr Dixon said.

Dr Weatherburn said: "The trouble is, self-administration is an offence.
Basically you are asking police not to prosecute that offence ... that is an
option but not a good option. The other and better option is for self
administration not to be an offence."

Les Kennedy reports: Kings Cross police were seeking legal advice last night
on whether they had sufficient evidence to prosecute the Wayside Chapel with
aiding and abetting heroin addicts following a raid by 15 officers
yesterday. Three men were in the chapel's heroin injecting room at the time.
One was arrested and charged with possession of heroin while the other two
were released after being issued with on-the-spot notices to face court at a
later date, charged with self-administering a drug.

The Rev Bill Crews, of the Uniting Church in Ashfield, called the raid
outrageous, and the AIDS Council of NSW said it would drive heroin users
back into alleys, needle-sharing and the increased risk of overdoses.