DUAL INITIATIVE ON DRUGS

Comrie Acts On Novice Addicts, PM Increases Treatment Funds

Victoria's chief police commissioner, Mr Neil Comrie, yesterday
outlined the prospect of expanded help for young heroin addicts as the
Federal Government prepared to announce a $20 million boost for
treatment and rehabilitation.

Mr Comrie said Melbourne's experimental drugs program, in which novice
users were sent for treatment rather than to court, was likely to run
longer than scheduled and might be extended statewide.

Preliminary analysis of the program, in operation across many western
and northern suburbs for the past six months, showed that the strategy
had been extremely successful, Mr Comrie said.

While the program was due to end on 1May, there was a strong
possibility it would be kept running while its results were evaluated,
he said. ``The indicators already for us are that it is making a
difference. But we will wait until the project is completed; we will
properly and fully analyse it and then we'll make a final decision
about statewide implementation,'' Mr Comrie said.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, who has been under
pressure over his opposition to a free heroin trial, will argue today
that, in the long term, the latest ``tough on drugs'' funding - part
of $290million earmarked over four years for law enforce-ment,
education and rehabilitation - will be more effective than such a trial.

The extra $20million to be announced by Mr Howard will go to treatment
centres in city and country areas throughout Australia, to groups
assisting outback Aboriginal communities to fight petrol-sniffing, to
organisations helping drug-addicted women and children, and to youth
services.

The money will be used to enhance existing services, allowing a number
of them to open new facilities. It takes to $50million the
Commonwealth's spending announcements on drug treatment during the
past year.

Mr Howard will also use today's announcement to turn up the heat on
state leaders to agree to a national approach to drugs when they meet
at the Premiers' Conference on 9April.

By choosing Melbourne in which to announce the funding, Mr Howard is
clearly throwing down the gauntlet to the Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett,
who has challenged the Prime Minister's stance, saying a heroin trial
should be considered.

Mr Comrie, in an interview with The Age yesterday, said that it was
``very, very pleasing'' that a number of drug users had been
successfully diverted from the criminal justice system into drug
counselling and treatment agencies through the experimental diversion
program.

The program allows for novice hard-drug users to receive warnings and
counselling rather than being charged and prosecuted. Last September,
Victorian police introduced the drug diversion pilot alongside the
statewide cautioning program for first-time cannabis offenders.

Mr Comrie said it was critical for police to be involved in early
intervention with experimenting drug users. ``The reality is that
potentially the next hit of heroin could be their last, because it may
well be a fatal one. So if we can prevent them from having the next
hit of heroin, I think we can say that we are potentially saving their
life,'' he said.

Mr Comrie also expressed serious concern at a number of trends in
illicit drug use. ``One of the other disturbing things that's really
concerning us at the moment is that the average age of first-time
users has dropped dramatically,'' he said.

Mr Comrie said research indicated that between 1996 and 1998 the
average age of first-time heroin use dropped from 26.1 to 17.5.

Revelations of free heroin-starter kits, including heroin, syringes
and other drug-using paraphernalia being offered to young people was
also of great concern, Mr Comrie said.