SINCLAIR, JONES ASKED TO CHAIR DRUG SUMMIT

The State Government has sounded out Mr Ian Sinclair and Mr Barry
Jones, who made such a hit chairing the Constitutional Convention, to
chair its drug summit.

Mr Sinclair said yesterday he would be delighted to do so, but Mr
Jones said, following the approach last week, that he was unable to
attend on the nominated dates.

A spokeswoman for the Premier, Mr Carr, said no final decision had
been made. A number of people had been approached for the two chairs.

The five-day summit will be held on May 17 to 21 and involve 60
experts, community leaders, current and former drug users, and
families that have experienced the drug problem, as well as both
houses of the State Parliament.

Mr Sinclair said the idea of the drug summit had great merit because
there was strong disagreement about how best to react to the problem.

He said there had not been enough work done on why young people
started taking drugs. It was necessary to identify causes and
determine what governments, voluntary organisations, social workers
and schools were able to do to deal with them.

Mr Sinclair said that very few schools were free of the drug problem.
The expulsion of several girls from PLC Pymble recently was just the
"tip of the iceberg".