METHADONE USERS SOAR TO 6000

The number of heroin addicts on Victoria's methadone program is growing at
a rate of up to 20 per cent a year, with the total number enrolled now
approaching 6000, according to new figures obtained by The Age.

Fourteen years ago, when the program was expanded, it catered for only 181
heroin addicts.

Drug experts said yesterday that although the figures were further evidence
of Victoria's - and Australia's - deepening heroin problem, they were an
encouraging sign. The figures showed that addicts were more comfortable
today in coming forward to seek help for their addiction, they said.

The program, which has surged by nearly 300 per cent since 1990, is viewed
as one of the most accurate barometers of society's heroin curse.

The number of heroin addicts on methadone has soared from 181 in mid-1985
to 1407 in 1990 and 5852 in January this year.

Drug experts, including Dr Nick Crofts from the Centre for Harm Reduction
at Macfarlane Burnet Centre for Medical Research, said the program was one
of the most effective ways to help heroin addicts.

The experts believe the program:

Cuts overdose deaths.

Contributes to a reduction in drug-related crime.

Slashes intravenous drug use.

Reduces by eight times the risk of an addict dying from a heroin overdose.

Reduces the spread of HIV.

Helps increase employment among drug users.

One of the state's leading methadone prescribers, St Kilda general
practitioner Dr John Sherman, said giving methadone to injecting drug users
was one of the key reasons Australia had a strong record in fighting HIV.

``We must look at methadone favorably and lift its status,'' he said.
``There are many people with a right-wing bent who want to get rid of
methadone and if we did that that would lead to tragedy and death.''

Dr Sherman said methadone activated some of the opiate receptors in the
brain, but without the same euphoric effect as heroin. It stopped craving
for heroin as well as withdrawal symptoms, he said. About 700 patients at
Dr Sherman's clinic are on methadone.

Dr Crofts said methadone gave addicts the chance to get their life back on
track. ``It is by no means street heroin scene to a clinic-based prescribed
scene, with all the safeguards that implies,'' he said.

``They move out of the black market and the criminal connections they have
to have for street heroin. People are then in position to start working on
their lives and reintegrating socially, getting their family back in order,
getting their job in order,'' he said.

The Federal Government pays for the methadone in the program, which is run
by the Victorian Department of Human Services. The department's assistant
director of social and environmental health, Mr Ray Judd, said about 250
Victorian GPs were registered to prescribe methadone. More than 300
pharmacies were able to dispense it, he said.

Mr Judd said methadone therapy was ``absolutely cost-effective public
health''. He said the program was of modest cost to Victoria and was saving
lives.

``It's working if it reduces their heroin use, that's a gain in itself.
It's working if they remain in contact with their general practitioner and
the pharmacist - they are positive signs,'' he said.

However, Mr Judd conceded there were gaps in the coverage of the program in
country Victoria. And the program was not without its risks, he warned.

There had been up to 20 deaths associated with the program since it started
more than 20 years ago, he said. Coronial findings have attributed many of
the deaths to misadventure, he said.

Meanwhile, a study published last month in the Medical Journal of Australia
found that methadone saved almost 70 lives a year in New South Wales.

The report, by researchers from Sydney University and the Victorian
Institute of Forensic Medicine, warned that restrictions on methadone
availability might increase heroin overdose deaths.

However, the researchers called for the establishment of an independent
expert committee to investigate methadone-related deaths.

Meanwhile, one of Melbourne's most historic churches said it was
considering opening safe injecting rooms for heroin users. The Wesley
Central Mission, in Lonsdale Street, said it was considering the
controversial move after recent overdoses in its carpark and toilets.