WELL-OFF CHILDREN 'IN GRIP OF HEROIN'

PRIVATE school children as young as 11 are addicted to heroin, according to
a doctor who has claimed drug dealers are targeting the offspring of the
middle class.

Michael Kozminsky, director of the Genesis Medical Centre in Victoria,
yesterday said students from "every decent private school in Melbourne" were
using the narcotic.

"It is a nice thing where you can blame the poor, disadvantaged or
Aborigines. It actually cuts across all social stratas. It is not a problem
purely of the working class by any means," Dr Kozminsky said. "The children
of the middle class are more susceptible to narcotic problems. They are the
ones who you would be pushing to."

Dr Kozminsky is among a number of professionals who will speak at a major
public forum on drug dependency at State Parliament today.

The forum, entitled "Voice Day" and organised by Drug-Aid, will provide a
platform for professionals and families connected with narcotics to exchange
concerns, knowledge and information.

It comes amid moves by the State Government to introduce the controversial
heroin treatment drug Naltrexone, which is used in Israel's Ultra Rapid
Opiated Detoxification programme.

Premier Peter Beattie has strongly indicated Naltrexone trials will proceed
after further fine-tuning as part of an assault on drugs.

Dr Kozminsky yesterday said heroin addicts' cravings for the drug could be
altered in as little time as 15 minutes under Naltrexone treatment.

"The biggest problem the addict has got, even when they are dried out, is
they have the compulsion to use every day. This stems that," he said.

"It is not a magical cure, but it is a great opportunity."

Naltrexone treatment involves the patient being sedated and given an oral
dose of Naltrexone as they undergo withdrawal between four and eight hours.

They are kept in hospital for 24 hours and should take one pill a day for at
least a year, he said.

Dr Kozininaky said the programme was so successful that 40 percent of
Naltrexone patients were now employed.

DrugAid founder Pat Assheton, whose 26-year-old son died from a heroin
overdose last year, said drug addicts and their families suffered
"atrocious" consequences because of Australia's "inadequate, inappropriate,
harsh and dangerous" approaches to laws and treatments.

Health Minister Wendy Edmond will officially open today's forum at the
Parliamentary Annexe at 9am.

Checked-by: Don Beck