SINCLAIR TO HELP RUN DRUG SUMMIT

Mr Ian Sinclair, the former National Party leader and veteran Federal
politician, is to co-chair the Drug Summit in State Parliament.

On the invitation of the Premier, Mr Carr - and with the great success of
the Constitutional Convention (ConCon) under his belt - he and a former
Labor Victorian premier, Mrs Joan Kirner, will work to steer and maintain
order on the forthcoming drugs debate.

He said yesterday he did not have close experience of drug addiction but
had encountered its devastating effects.

Mr Sinclair sees addiction as an illness and "not something you can sweep
under the carpet and it will go away ... It's an issue which is hugely
important and it has an immediacy and practical application to the
well-being of society which perhaps ConCon didn't enjoy."

He said he is a supporter of policies focused on preventative measures.
"The community needs to find strategies to ensure people don't start on
drugs in the first place. We have to look to the next generation, to those
that might be at risk."