ANTI-DRUG EXPERTS ATTACK SHUT-DOWN

Drug experts warned that the NSW Government was risking the lives of
young heroin addicts when it shut down a Sydney needle-exchange clinic
yesterday in response to a Sun-Herald photograph of a 13-year-old boy
injecting heroin.

The Minister for Health, Dr Refshauge, ordered the suspension of the
program in Caroline Lane, Redfern, and ordered a review of 350 other
needle-exchanges, saying he was "shocked and horrified" by the image
of the young addict.

But he agreed to consider establishing a high-level task force of
health professionals to examine drug abuse after health workers and
church groups warned that reviewing the needle-exchange program would
do little to tackle the crisis.

"No-one likes to see kids injecting drugs, but anyone who believes
that closing a needle syringe exchange program is somehow going to
stop kids using drugs is missing the point entirely," said Mr David
Crosbie, chief executive of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of
Australia.

"Imagine the problem if these kids weren't able to get clean syringes.
They're suddenly at risk for a whole range of blood-borne diseases
like hepatitis C and HIV-AIDS."

The decision to shut down the Redfern needle-exchange program comes
eight weeks before the March 27 State election, and in the middle of a
campaign in which both sides have nominated law and order as central
policies. Both have been accused of knee-jerk responses to complex
issues of crime and sentencing.

The drugs campaigner Mr Tony Trimingham, who lost his son to drugs,
said: "We're in election mode and politicians from both sides are
promoting policies that they think appeal to popular demand, but I'm
actually not so sure that they are reading it correctly.

"We are looking for new ways of dealing with [the heroin problem], not
back to the dark old days of coming down hard with law enforcement and
shutting things down."

The needle-exchange program was established 10 years ago to stop the
spread of AIDS and is widely regarded as an enormous success, with
fewer addicts contracting HIV.

Professor Ron Penny of St Vincent's Hospital, the former chairman of
the NSW Ministerial Advisory Committee on AIDS, said the drug issue
needed to be the focus of a high-level committee which could advise
the Government.

Professor Penny said the issue was always changing and needed to be
constantly reviewed in a bipartisan environment by professionals
without being compromised by politics.

Dr Refshauge planned to meet Professor Penny today and would "listen
very carefully to what he proposes", a spokesman for the minister said
last night.

The director of the drug and alcohol service at St Vincent's, Dr Alex
Wodak, warned that cocaine was replacing heroin as Sydney's main
injecting drug, and cocaine addicts needed a hit up to 20 times a day,
compared with three or four times for heroin users.

If users could not get clean needles they would be forced to use
syringes more than once.

The Opposition Leader, Mrs Chikarovski, said she would support a
bipartisan, independent inquiry.

Yesterday Dr Refshauge and the Premier, Mr Carr, admitted the
Government had to work harder in the battle against drugs.

As a result of the review of the needle-exchange program, the State
may change its role in handing drug-injecting kits to children.

Rather than providing them with kits, the Government will examine
whether it should try to help the under-16s by referring them for
treatment, a spokesman for Dr Refshauge said.

The Government said there were other clinics in Redfern and Newtown
which would be given additional staff.