HEROIN 'A PROBLEM, - NOT A CRISIS'

Australia was not in the midst of a heroin crisis and the focus on a
potentially divisive heroin trial threatened treatment of the overall drug
problem, members of the Prime Minister's advisory council on drugs said
yesterday.

The Australian National Council on Drugs also rejected calls from the NSW
and Victorian governments for a national drug summit.

The Prime Minister, Mr Howard, who yesterday repeated his opposition to
heroin trials, would not rule out a national drug summit although he said
he was cautious because no matter what the issue "some people do grandstand
at summits".

Federal Cabinet is understood to have discussed the drug problem generally
yesterday but it is believed no new directions on the issue were decided.

Salvation Army Major Brian Watters, who chairs the National Council on
Drugs, said of calls for a drug summit by the NSW Premier, Mr Carr, and
Victorian Premier, Mr Kennett, that he worried "some of these things are a
knee-jerk reaction to what's being presented as a crisis ..."

"We have to be careful we don't throw away the long-term strategies that
are going to bring about those results," he said.

"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 this was a reference to Mr Carr, and said
he was unaware when an election was due in Victoria.

Another council member, the director of Victoria's Turning Point Alcohol
and Drug Service, Professor Margaret Hamilton, said the revival of plans
for a trial for addicts of legalised heroin threatened to overshadow
existing achievements.

Professor Ian Webster, president of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of
Australia, said: "I think this notion that we're facing a [heroin] crisis
is exaggerated. Certainly we have an epidemic ... as do many other
countries. But we have in place a comprehensive response: education,
medical care, all in co-operation with law enforcement."

Another council member, the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mr Mick
Palmer, warned against confusing the questionable success of the US law
enforcement policy of zero tolerance of crime with what was being discussed
in Australia - a zero tolerance of drugs in schools.

Mr Palmer said alcohol was Australia's biggest criminal drug problem and
despite a marginal increase in the supply of heroin across the world, there
were also signs that countries of supply like Burma were seriously
attacking the heroin problem.

The Federal Opposition Leader, Mr Beazley, maintained a low-profile on the
issue this week. A Labor source said the Opposition was seeking to avoid
turning the issue into a political contest.