CHURCHES JOIN DRUG TRIAL CALL

Melbourne church leaders joined the call for a heroin trial yesterday,
saying their welfare agencies had noticed an alarming increase in drug use
and a drop in the age of drug users.

The Anglican Church yesterday revealed its support for a heroin trial, and
a senior member of the Uniting Church called for a heroin trial and clean
injecting rooms for heroin addicts.

Ms Colleen Pearce, the director of Uniting Church community services,
called on the Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, to reassess his staunch
opposition to a medically prescribed heroin trial.

``I believe he needs to listen to the voices of the people who are dealing
with this issue on a day-to-day basis,'' she said.

Although present strategies were working, they were not meeting everybody's
needs, said Ms Pearce, who headed the church's drug and alcohol
rehabilitation centre for seven years.

The Reverend Ray Cleary, the chairman of the Anglican social
responsibilities committee, said a heroin trial was needed because addicts
most at risk of overdosing were not being reached by treatment services and
outreach programs.

Also, increases in heroin purity in recent years and variability meant
addicts were even more vulnerable to a fatal overdose, he said.

``We are not at the present time stopping young people in particular from
overdosing on heroin,'' Mr Cleary said.

``I think we are in a fairly desperate stage of trying to find what
alternatives we need to address the present crisis.''

Ms Pearce said data from overseas suggested that clean injecting rooms
reduced drug deaths and the transmission of blood-borne viruses such as
hepatitis C, hepatitis B and HIV.

They also provided a gateway to rehabilitation and counselling services,
and freed ambulance services for other emergencies, she said.

Mr Cleary said the Anglican Church had not developed a policy on clean
injecting rooms. He said a heroin trial would need to be carefully evaluated.

The Catholic Church, however, is unconvinced about the worth of a heroin
trial.

A spokesman for the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne, Dr Michael Casey,
said: ``The Catholic Church in Melbourne is very keen to do more in this
area, but we think that the evidence worldwide supports the Prime Minister.''

The Metropolitan Ambulance Service yesterday attended eight suspected
heroin overdoses in the city and suburbs between 7am and 6pm. None was
fatal, and most occurred in the afternoon.