COMMON SENSE ENTERS THE DRUG SCENE AT LAST

DR ANDREW REFSHAUGE'S decision to stop the issue of free
heroin-injecting kits on "Easy Street" in Redfern gives hope that some
common sense has entered the illicit drug scene (Sun-Herald, January
31, pp 1, 6 and 7). Health departments must review their role in
handing out "injecting equipment supply units" to under-age persons.

The most repulsive statement I read was "blood spurts from the cook of
one girl's arm as the needle goes in; the Newtown exchange worker
looks away''. Such scenes underline the urgency for requiring
injecting addicts to be referred to residential rehabilitation centres.

The gutter is no place for them. Wherever needle-exchange programs
have been introduced, the number of drug users has increased. In
1987-88 the ACT had about 250-400 dependent opiate users. Today,
following 10 years of "harm minimisation", we've got over 3000. Harm
minimisationists like our health minister and others supporting
shooting galleries will tell you that's "success", as they would the
fact that since the strategy was introduced in 1985-86 reported drug
offences have jumped 40 per cent (Australian Institute of
Criminology). That's why we need a new health minister and the monies
earmarked for shooting galleries to go urgently to juvenile
detox/rehab centres, as suggested publicly by Mr Stanhope. Otherwise
our kids are condemned.

COLLIS PARRETT
Convener
Make Illicit Drugs Socially Unacceptable