DRUG-ROOM BACKDOWN A SENSIBLE MOVE

MICHAEL MOORE'S backdown on the heroin shooting gallery is a triumph for
common sense.

A true test for any harm-minimisation program should be that it poses no
risks to those outside the target group. To the best of my knowledge no
regulation-impact statement, identifying the risks to the community and
proposed management of those risks, was prepared. Without this statement
the people of Canberra were not truly informed on the issue.

Had the proposal become law, it would have effectively legalised heroin use
in the ACT. This is quite a step up from the previously proposed clinical
heroin trial.

Most reformists wax lyrical about the Swiss model, but fail to outline the
negative aspects of the program, such as increased crime rates in the areas
surrounding the clinics or the virtual impunity with which drug dealers ply
their trade.

It is time to review our drug-education system, which promotes "safe" use
of drugs whilst falling to distinguish between pharmaceuticals and
prohibited substances.

It is time to promote rehabilitation programs over drug-maintenance programs.

It is time to target drug demand as well as supply, because anyone with
even the faintest understanding of the drug culture realises that drug
users are an integral part of the drug-distribution network.

The true dangers of the heroin injecting rooms lie in their potential to
promote drug use to those who would have not otherwise become involved.

R. MARTIN
Monash