SAFE-INJECTION SITES ARE NO SOLUTION

The suggestion that Victoria create so-called "safe-injection sites"
is a poor response to the problems of drug addicts.

If created, these sites will only legitimize illegal drug activity.
The only benefits of such a facility may be a reduction in
needle-transmitted disease and fewer people shooting up in alleys.
These sites will not break up the drug culture surrounding the use of
illicit substances.

Break-ins, theft, shoplifting, prostitution and other illegal
activities to support the drug habit will not change. Drug dealing on
the streets, violence as a result of drug dealing and spaced-out
people wandering the streets disturbing the community will not cease.

The solution to this sad state of affairs is difficult to determine.
One solution may be the early education of our children, by parents
and the school system, to the horrors of drug addictions.

For people who are totally addicted it could be the only way to help
them is to extract them from the drug environment. This means placing
these people in a controlled environment such as a ranch or farm-type
facility where patients are detoxified, provided with counselling and
given work-related training so when they are released they have the
opportunity to become contributing members of society.

Bev Highton,

Victoria.