SHOOTING GALLERY A FIRST DAY TARGET FROM ALL SIDES

Some addicts smoked cigarettes to the filter, chattering and milling about.
Others slumbered, their backs turned to the winter sun.

At 2pm, as the two armed security guards posted outside the Wayside Chapel
in Kings Cross stepped aside, a whisper stirred the small crowd.

The T-room, or Tolerance Room - Australia's first church-run, illegal
shooting gallery - was open.

A vocal and devoted group of clergy, social workers and health
professionals, invoking the ancient notion of church as sanctuary, got
their project under way - and sparked off a mixed reaction.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, condemned it for sending youth "bad signals".

The State Government, including the Minister for Health, Mr Knowles, and
the Attorney-General, Mr Shaw, urged the Wayside Chapel organisers to
reconsider.

The Law Society, AIDS Council and a number of State MPs, including Labor's
Ms Tanya Plibersek and Greens MLC Mr Ian Cohen, strongly and publicly
supported the T-room.

The junkies were just as divided.

"Tom", the first to use the T-Room, said: "Help is there at hand. It's a
safe clean place to use ... too many people have died already. We all know
people who have died in the last week alone. There is no need for people to
die - no need."

"Snake", a long-time user wearing a cowboy hat and a flurry of tattoos,
welcomed the creation of a safe environment for addicts, but returned from
the T-room with his syringe unused and his face reflecting anger and
disappointment.

The rules which restrict users to one at a table upset a number of addicts
who had plans to share a single $80 deal.

Others were clearly shaken by the presence of official observers.

"This is totally bloody useless," said Snake. "You can't go in with someone
else, and what about all these people standing around watching? Sometimes
three people throw in ... $80 is a lot of money. I think they should ask
the users. Doing it their way is not going to work."

John, Jason and "Amy" were angered by the number of observers, and upset by
the requirement to spray and clean the tables before and after use.

All promptly set off to shoot up in a nearby laneway. Despite earlier
protestations about cleaning up the shooting gallery tables, all four,
unprompted, picked up their used syringes, swabs and spoons, leaving
nothing behind in the laneway.

The shooting gallery, according to the Wayside Chapel's the Rev Ray
Richmond, will run three days a week for four weeks. It will be open two
hours a day and strict rules will be enforced. All users must be over 18,
must have injected drugs before and not have had a shot in the previous hour.

He said the plan, which includes providing a nurse and a social worker, had
been some 12 months in the making and its launch had been delayed until
after the State election in a bid to depoliticise the issue.

The clergy involved in the foundation of the T-Room include the Rev Tom
Henderson, of the Anglican Church of St John, and Father Steve Sinn, of the
Catholic Church of St Canice.

Well-known drug law reform activists Dr Alex Wodak and Kings Cross GP Dr
Raymond Seidler are also founding members. So is campaigner Mr Tony
Trimingham, whose son Damien died of an overdose.

All are only too aware of the legal risks for volunteer staff, but remain
adamant that testing the political, social and legal waters is the only way.

Funds are needed for the trial and for court cases as they arise. (In NSW,
aiding and abetting self-administration of a prohibited drug carries a
maximum penalty of a $2,200 fine or two years' jail.)

Dr Wodak, president of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, was
vehement in his support. "This is about keeping young people alive. We now
have a Port Arthur every two weeks. When Port Arthur happened, to his
eternal credit the Prime Minister moved heaven and earth on gun laws," he
said. "Now, he doesn't have the ticker to do what needs to be done."