I'M OPEN-MINDED ABOUT WAR ON DRUGS, SAYS LATHAM

Labor leader Mark Latham today said he had an open mind about ways of
tackling drug abuse and accused the prime minister of playing politics
on the issue.

Prime Minister John Howard has labelled Mr Latham as soft on drugs and
today announced the government would spend an extra $6.6 million on
its tough on drugs policy.

Mr Latham said he was committed to finding solutions to drug abuse and
was keeping an open mind.

"(I'm) very, very committed to finding solutions," he told
reporters.

"Sometimes these solutions involve zero tolerance ... on other
occasions it's wise to have an open mind about new approaches that can
find a solution to a very, very entrenched, tough social problem."

Mr Latham said it was every parent's nightmare to discover their child
had a drug addiction.

He cautioned Mr Howard against playing politics on the issue of drug
abuse.

"I think it's wise not to be playing politics with this and be making
political point scoring out of it," he said.

"You need to be careful about judging the evidence, finding out the
things that work in practice and taking a good, strong approach to
getting solutions.

"I don't think Mr Howard should be swinging labels around about this,
we're all very dedicated to getting the best outcome."

Mr Latham said the heroin injecting trial in Sydney's Kings Cross was
a one-off and he did not support trials being held elsewhere.

"My view is those trials are only appropriate in areas where you've
got a high user population, so really, I see Kings Cross as a
one-off," he said.

"I wouldn't support trials anywhere else."

Mr Latham said he was keen to see what evidence and findings emerge
from the Kings Cross trial.