PM'S COUNCIL REBUFFS CALLS FOR DRUG SUMMIT

The Prime Minister's special advisory council on drugs yesterday
rejected growing inter-government calls for a national drug summit,
warning that an existing strategy could be derailed.

Executive members of the Australian National Council on Drugs denied
there was a heroin crisis and said the focus on a potentially divisive
one-shot heroin trial threatened attempts to resolve the overall drug
problem.

The council's chairman, Major Brian Watters of the Salvation Army,
said it was tempting near an election to make summit calls. But during
its bimonthly meeting, this time in Hobart, the council decided that
opiate deaths and young people should be high priorities.

In an election year for his state, the Victorian Premier, Mr Jeff
Kennett, has signalled his intention to seek an urgent heads of
government meeting to consider a national heroin trial. The New South
Wales Premier, Mr Bob Carr, who faces the polls next month, has
proposed a post-election summit to discuss the drug problem.

Told of their plans, Major Watters said: ``I just worry that some of
these things are a knee-jerk reaction to what's being presented as a
crisis ... We have to be careful that we don't throw away the
long-term strategies that are going to bring about those results.

``It's very tempting, of course, as you get near an election to make
calls and to do things that would appear to raise your determination
if you're seeking re-election."

He denied a suggestion he was referring to Mr Carr, and said he was
unaware when an election was due in Victoria.

Other members of the council's executive joined him in attempting to
cool down the debate, pointedly rejecting the heroin trial. Among
them, the director of Victoria's Turning Point Alcohol and Drug
Service, Professor Margaret Hamilton, said the revival of plans for a
legalised heroin trial threatened to overshadow existing achievements.