OUT COLD

MPs prepare to block heroin trial

By Malcolm Farr and Sue Dunlevy

THE ACT heroin trial is unlikely to go ahead with senior Federal Government
members led by Prime Minister John Howard unwilling to pass laws allowing
the drug into the country.

Pressure is growing within the Coalition for Parliament to refuse
permission for heroin to be supplied for the trial.

Parliament must pass a special law allowing importation of the heroin for
the trial.

But National Party Senate Leader Ron Boswell said yesterday: "I would be
reluctant to do that."

In an indication of growing resentment towards the trial, a Liberal
minister yesterday called it stupid and vowed not to support it.

ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell, who wants to host the first stage of the
experiment in Canberra, is understood to be resigned that it will not go
ahead.

The proposal has been severely criticised by social workers including the
Salvation Army, and The Daily Telegraph has campaigned against it, arguing
it would be a surrender to the scourge of drug abuse.

Yesterday Mr Howard signalled he and his colleagues would oppose the plan.
"I've got to say that I am myself, and I know many people in my Government
are profoundly ambivalent indeed more than that, sceptical to the point
of hostility," Mr Howard told 2UE.

It is likely he will speak to Health Minister Michael Wooldridge, who
helped push through the proposal, on his return from overseas at the weekend.

Mr Howard said that to be fair to his minister, Dr Wooldridge had himself
"expressed some ambivalence" towards the trial.

However it is understood it was Dr Wooldridge who negotiated the idea
through a meeting of health ministers, and committed the Government to
paying for security and evaluation of the program.

The Opposition has yet to formally consider the issue but Labor's health
spokesman Michael Lee said he personally would be disturbed if government
money went to a heroin trial while detoxification and rehabilitation
programs were inadequately funded.

"I'm closer to Mr Howard's position than I am to Dr Wooldridge's," Mr Lee
told The Daily Telegraph.

He said workers in the field had told him programs were so under funded
that there were waiting lists for those wanting to kick their addictions.

The threestage trial, proposed to begin in the ACT, was agreed to by all
health ministers except those of Queensland, Western Australia and the
Northern Territory.

Stage one would involve 40 addicts receiving a total of 3.5kg of synthetic
heroin over six months.

The drug would be imported from Britain, and Parliament would have to
legislate to legalise the transaction.

Senator Boswell, from Queensland, said he would ask for more details of the
experiment but that it was unlikely he would support it.

"If that was the case, we would be going against our own State Minister for
Health [Mike Horan] and I'm sure our constituency would not approve of it
either," he said.

"I'd have to be convinced this is the right way to go. It seems to be
saying, 'It's legal, come and get it'."

NSW National MP Ian Causley, whose electorate of Page includes Nimbin, said
he would not approve the trial because, "we are in a really sorry state if
we are throwing our hands up on this problem".

"I haven't got a magic answer, but I don't think this is the way to solve it."

NSW Liberal MLA Peter Debnam warned the report to ministers on the heroin
trial said it would bring increased crime, see drugged drivers on the road
and trial heroin diverted to the black market.

A backlash could erode support for worthwhile treatments such as methadone,
he said.

"Instead of of using taxpayers' dollars to buy heroin, use the funds to
support programs which are currently struggling for resources," he said.
Parliamentary Secretary for employment and education Tony Abbott said he
was doubtful about the program.

[unquote]

Editorial in The Daily Telegraph of August 15, 1997.

[quote]

Trial and error

SOME sense at last. The ACT's illconceived and morally repugnant heroin
trial now appears highly unlikely to proceed.

For the trial to go ahead, Federal Parliament must pass a law allowing the
importation of sufficient heroin tp satisfy the cravings of 40 desperate
addicts.

Yesterday, a number of senior Government figures, incuding the Nationals'
Senate Leader Ron Boswell, said they would be reluctant to pass such a law.

ACT Chief Minister Kate Carnell's brainchild was dealt a telling blow
yesterday when Prime Minister Howard said he was "sceptical to the point of
hostility" about the heroin trial. Mr Howard's colleagues to their credit
were quick to take the lead.

The Daily Telegraph has taken an uncompromising position in this issue,
believing the community is appalled at the suggested use of public funds to
allow drug addicts to continue their criminal and self destructive habits.

That the trial seems doomed is therefore welcome. That it took so long for
sense and decency to prevail is disturbing.