GREENS 'TO IMPORT HEROIN'

FACTORY-produced heroin will be imported into Australia and
prescribed for long-term addicts under the Victorian Greens' drugs
policy. The Greens -- predicted to hold the balance of power in
Victoria after the November state election -- also announced plans
for supervised heroin injection rooms, and the scrapping of all
criminal penalties for drug use.

Greens Victorian upper house candidate Colleen Hartland said the
proposals would reduce harm and save lives.

"Current approaches are not working, so it is time to step back from
the emotional debate and work to implement programs that will
effectively tackle the problems associated with legal and illegal
drugs," she said.

The Greens heroin trial proposal mirrors equivalent moves in Europe
and Vancouver, Canada, where prescription heroin is given to addicts
who have become resistant to methadone.

Advocates say it provides a safe source for a drug that addicts would
otherwise steal to purchase, while detractors say it sends the wrong
message to the community on a dangerous drug.

Premier Steve Bracks dismissed the policy but would not be drawn on
whether a preference deal would be struck between Labor and the Greens.

A spokesman for Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu condemned the Greens
for their policy.

"The policy is ill-conceived. The Liberal Party is completely opposed
to this and to heroin injecting rooms," he said.

Under the policy, the production, sale or trafficking of illicit
drugs would remain an offence, but users would only face a court
order requiring them to participate in a health scheme.

The Greens said the heroin trial was needed for those addicts who,
through their long-term use, had become resistant to current
methadone-based treatments.

"It's not the decriminalisation of heroin," Ms Hartland said. "It's
about having a trial to see whether people with long-term chronic use
can be assisted in this way."

Greens health adviser Richard Di Natale said the drug would not be
manufactured in Australia, but imported from pharmaceutical companies
that supplied other heroin trials across the globe.

The Greens policy also proposes to regulate medicinal marijuana use,
while needle exchange facilities would be rolled out statewide to cut
rates of hepatitis and HIV infection among users.

The legal drugs -- alcohol and tobacco -- are also targeted, with the
Greens calling for a ban on all tobacco advertising and sponsorship,
and an end to advertisements that "glamorise" alcohol, particularly
to teenagers.

Additional reporting: AAP