DRUGS SUMMIT WOULD FAIL BEFORE ELECTION: CARR

The failure of existing drug policies has led the Premier, Mr Carr, to
promise a bipartisan drugs summit after the March 27 election.

He rejected repeated calls by the Leader of the Opposition, Mrs
Chikarovski, to have the drugs summit before the election, saying
rational debate on the issue would be impossible in a campaign atmosphere.

Both the Premier and the Opposition Leader have seized upon the drug
summit idea after the closure of a needle and syringe service at
Caroline Lane, Redfern, two weekends ago focused attention on the
ineffectiveness of present drug laws and policies.

Mr Carr also announced MPs, law enforcement experts and health
officials would attend an unprecedented five-day parliamentary session
on drug policies.

Mr Carr promised a full-blooded debate where experts such as the
Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, could outline their views without
fear of political repercussions.

"The difficulty is that some of the new solutions people
enthusiastically promote could be even more disastrous," Mr Carr said.

"I don't think you can have an objective discussion on this when
there's an election on."

But Mrs Chikarovski called for the summit to be held immediately and
rejected Mr Carr's assertion that a summit before the State election
would be dominated by political point-scoring.

"I certainly don't think we need to have a debate, what we need to do
is have a dialogue," she said.

"That's why it's so important that it happen now, that we don't wait
...

"The Premier's talking about waiting another three months; people will
die in that time."

Meanwhile, Australia's first drug court, offering addicts a choice
between going to prison or starting rehabilitation programs, will
commence in Parramatta today.

An amendment to the Criminal Assets Recovery Act allowing assets
confiscated from criminals to be used in crime prevention programs
also comes into force today.

The same amendment also means people can be charged with possession of
child pornography before the material is classified. Married couples
who conspire to commit an offence will no longer be able to escape
prosecution.

And amendments to the Children's Criminal Proceedings Act will allow
families of deceased victims to attend trials of young offenders.