1700 OVERDOSES THAT DIDN'T END IN DEATH

The Kings Cross injecting centre has been saving lives for five
years, writes Ruth Pollard.

IT IS one of the few State Government programs devoted to caring for
those living on the fringes of society rather than throwing them in jail.

Lauded as brave and pioneering by many and derided by others as
giving tacit approval to illicit activities, the Medically Supervised
Injecting Centre quietly celebrated its fifth year of operation eight
weeks ago.

Such is the sensitivity surrounding its operation there were no
obvious celebrations, no fanfare - just a quiet determination to
continue its work in the face of growing political opposition amid a
law-and-order auction leading up to next year's state election.

"If they close the centre it is going to go back to how it was - the
mess in the street, the overdoses in the street, the death in the
street will be a recurring nightmare," says Sally, who fought and
beat a 17-year heroin habit.

One of the first drug users to register when the centre opened on May
6, 2001, she gradually moved from heroin to methadone, and from the
streets to public housing.

In August she celebrates three years off methadone, and four years of
sleeping indoors.

With assistance from staff at the injecting centre, Sally gathered
the strength to move away from drugs when she discovered her partner
of eight years had cancer.

"It didn't matter how many times I had overdosed and been brought
back, it wasn't until I was confronted with my boyfriend's mortality
that it made some sense to get straight."

In its five years of operation, the centre has registered 8912
injecting drug users, many of whom had not previously had any recent
contact with health services. Nearly 310,000 episodes of injecting
have occurred at the centre, now running at about 220 a day -
episodes that would otherwise have happened in parks, toilets or back
lanes, in public view and without medical support if an overdose occurs.

A long-time Kings Cross resident, Margaret Harvie, said the centre
had made a huge difference to those who live and work in the area.

"The injecting centre has significantly improved things - you do not
have people overdosing; there are not ambulances screaming around the streets."

Ms Harvie dismissed the idea that the centre is a honeypot for
dealers and users.

People have been hanging around Kings Cross for years, she says,
attracted by the nightclubs and the prostitution rather than the
injecting centre.

But the Liberal leader, Peter Debnam, said he would close the centre
if elected premier next year - dumping his predecessor John Brogden's
policy of supporting the centre.

His health spokeswoman, Jillian Skinner, who voted against the
centre's trial, has been asked to develop the Opposition's drug policy.

"If you can clearly demonstrate that it is a success in helping
people move on to rehabilitation, then good; if it is [money] that
could have been spent allowing people to go to treatment
services that is not a good use of scarce resources," she said.

Funded by the confiscated proceeds of crime - not with taxpayers'
money as the Opposition claims - the centre was born out of the 1999
drug summit at State Parliament.

Harry Herbert is the executive director of Uniting Care and the
licensing operator of the injecting centre, which runs on a yearly
budget of $2.5 million.

"The board feels as strongly now as it did back in 1999 when the
original decision was taken - it is serving a very important social
purpose and it is appropriate for a church body to be involved."

The medical director of the centre, Ingrid van Beek, is urging
politicians to reserve judgement until the final evaluation is
released in mid-2007. The centre has treated 1752 overdoses on site
without a fatality, 91 per cent of them associated with heroin and
other opioids, she said.

Describing it as a "gateway" for drug users to enter treatment and
rehabilitation programs, she said the centre had referred users to
programs on 5380 occasions: "We have a brokerage arrangement in place
where we can fast-track people onto treatment programs and support
them for the first three months."

There is no evidence the centre is contributing to crime in the area,
or has attracted more drug dealers, said Mark Murdoch, the Kings
Cross Local Area Commander for the police.

"There is nothing to indicate that the centre is anything but good
for the area.

"Police support Government initiatives such as the [injecting centre]
and police are there to enforce the law, which is evidenced by Kings
Cross Local Area Command attaining the highest rates of drug
detections in the state."

Government support for the injecting centre appears strong. The trial
was just one part of the Government's drug policy, which encompassed
prevention, education, treatment and law enforcement, said the acting
Minister for Health, Frank Sartor. "The independent evaluations have
given us evidence that the centre has had a positive impact."