SUPPORT GROWS FOR 'INJECTING CLINIC' PLANS

A proposal for Canberra to become the first place in Australia to build
safe injecting clinics for addicted heroin users has the support of federal
Health Minister Michael Wooldridge and the guarded backing of the ACT Labor
Party.

Late yesterday, Dr Michael Wooldridge's office applauded the move as a
credit to the ACT, and one that could be a vital test case for other
jurisdictions where they were struggling with the same rates of drug
overdoses and deaths.

Independent ACT MLA Dave Rugendyke, a former police officer, gave his
"guarded" support "because I can see that prohibition is not working. We
have got to try new things."

Earlier, Opposition Leader John Stanhope said he believed that the
prohibition approach to drugs had failed and that more needed to be done.

Mr Stanhope said that he supported the proposal in principle and he
expected the Labor Party to support it in the Legislative Assembly,
provided it overcame legal and community hurdles.

Although he was reluctant, past strategies had shown to be ineffective. He
had concerns about public liability and the process of guaranteeing a safe
injecting process.

Among them was the question of how medical and government employees would
treat someone with an illegal substance in their possession.

"The ACT Labor Party in the Assembly would not stand in the way of a legal
injecting clinic if all concerns could be overcome and it had broad
community support," Mr Stanhope said. But he criticised six-week waiting
times for methadone treatment and said it was unacceptable for drug users
who sought help to be told to come back later.

A spokesman for Dr Wooldridge, however, said the federal government
encouraged new ways of treating health problems associated with drug-
taking. "We will watch with interest to see what lessons can be learned,"
the spokesman said.

"I don't think we have a major concern about it. But we have a major
concern in the community and should try a wide range of treatments."

He said Australia was a leader in innovative ways of tackling health
issues, pointing to the national campaign over AIDS.

The Australian Federal Police and ACT Ambulance Service have told of 42
drug overdoses in Canberra last month and 10 deaths in the previous 12 months.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski