DRUG CLINIC DEBATE ROW

Tucker labels Moore's three hours for public discussion a 'token gesture'

ACT Health Minister Michael Moore's push for his controversial
self-injecting clinic for Canberra's drug users is to be allowed only three
hours for public debate.

The proposed clinic - one of the most controversial moves in recent years
to try to stem heroin overdoses and deaths in Canberra - has split the ACT
Legislative Assembly.

Mr Moore has set aside the night of February 9 for a panel of experts he
says represents "broad community views" to speak on the issue and to invite
participation from the floor.

But Greens MLA Kerrie Tucker has described his move as a "token gesture"
and one that appeared to flout the Government's own consultation protocols.
Ms Tucker said the Greens supported the concept of a clinic in principle,
but said Mr Moore's failure to have reasonable public debate on the issue
or to formulate a proper drug strategy could damage his support.

Mr Moore's effort to provide a safe injecting place for addicted heroin
users has only partial support among the Liberal Government - understood to
be only four of the seven - which means he must depend on support from the
Labor Party.

Labor support was "heavily qualified", and Opposition Leader Jon Stanhope
said he agreed in principle but only as part of harm minimisation in the
fight against drugs.

But Labor believed the pressing need in Canberra was for a juvenile
residential rehabilitation centre, and this might be more worthy of limited
anti-drugs funds.

Mr Moore, a long-time advocate of harm minimisation, is driven by his
concerns about as many as 16 overdose deaths in Canberra in 1998.

But critics argue about obstacles such as possible deaths in a
government-run centre, and the effect it might have on law enforcement if
people with heroin said they were on the way to the clinic when caught.

Mr Moore said the Government had already consulted widely on the issue, and
the forum would give people a chance to air their views.

The Health Department had evaluated the 1995 ACT Drug Strategy and had
consulted the community.

"The need for a safe-injecting room was a regular theme in these forums,"
Mr Moore said.

He said the self-injecting room had also been considered by the Sexual
Health and Blood-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee, which supported it.

A steering committee for the room included representatives of the
Australian Federal Police, Assisting Drug Dependents Inc, and the National
Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health