OUTCRY OVER PM'S NEW DRUG PUSH

A radical suggestion by the Prime Minister to subsidise the heroin treatment
drug Naltrexone has been attacked by clinical experts.

Mr John Howard yesterday revealed that the Federal Government was
considering fast-tracking Naltrexone - which is still undergoing clinical
trials - into the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Mr Howard said an announcement regarding the proposal could be made at
tomorrow's special Premiers' conference on illicit drugs, sparking an outcry
from experts who warned it would be premature to begin Naltrexone subsidies
when trials were far from complete.

The Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia said that while Naltrexone
appeared to help some heroin addicts, it did not work for most.

A prominent Sydney GP, Dr Andrew Burn, who treats heroin addicts, said
Naltrexone was of limited use and the Federal Government should devote more
resources to the availability of methadone which was "dramatically successful".

The furore came as the Commonwealth, in a significant departure from normal
funding arrangements, announced it had awarded direct grants worth $2.7
million to 10 Victorian drug treatment services aimed at women and young people.

The Federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said it was the first
time the Commonwealth had directly funded community treatment services,
which cover Melbourne and much of rural Victoria.

Mr Howard said he would try to steer tomorrow's conference into areas of
agreement between the Commonwealth and the states, but the Victorian
Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, signalled yesterday he would renew his push for a
heroin trial.

Mr Kennett admitted that his push, supported by Queensland and the ACT, was
unlikely to succeed after Mr Howard yesterday reiterated his opposition to
the idea.

Victoria expects Mr Howard to announce a significant increase in
Commonwealth funding to tackle the drug problem. While Mr Kennett supports
the move he is expected to push for State Government input into how the
funding is allocated and spent.

At the conference, Mr Kennett will also ask the Federal Government to set up
a new National Institute of Depression, based in Victoria and with himself
as head, to look at the wider problem. He said such an
institute has the potential to bring the illness - sometimes drug-related -
into the open and thereby encourage people to seek help.

Mr Kennett, in Adelaide, said the Depression Institute was neither more nor
less important in the drugs war than proposed heroin trials. The latter
would be of more immediate help to addicts who, in his opinion, were
suffering health problems rather than engaging in criminality.

"If we can talk about it we might find that this measure alone will have a
greater impact on the wellbeing of the country and its citizens than any
measure that responds to either suicide or responds to drugs or responds to
homelessness."

While the Federal Government is understood to be seriously considering
placing Naltrexone on the benefits scheme to address perceived urgent social
demand, a $3 million, three-year evaluation by the National Drug and Alcohol
Research Centre of the drug and other treatments is only half-complete.

The council's policy manager, Ms Carol McNiven, said placing Naltrexone on
the benefits scheme now would "not be a good option given that we have not
yet seen the results of the trials".

Dr Burn described Mr Howard's suggestion as "just ludicrous, it is
extraordinary and proves he is not taking advice from wise medical people".