CLINICS TO HELP CANNABIS ADDICTS QUIT

Cannabis clinics designed to curb use of the drug by young people and
help heavy users quit will be established in NSW.

Detoxification, counselling and psychological assistance will be
available for clinic patients, but cannabis will not be provided as
part of the treatment.

Special Minister of State John Della Bosca said the Parramatta clinic
would open by the end of the year. It would be the first of four such
facilities to be set up under a $2.4 million program.

The clinic would become a flagship for clinics planned for southern
Sydney, the central coast and the central west.

"The clinic is aimed at people who are highly dependent on cannabis
and who want treatment to help them reduce and eliminate their drug
taking," he said.

"This is part of a comprehensive response the Government's been taking
to the emerging problem of links between cannabis use and cannabis
overuse and various health, psychiatric and social problems affecting
young people."

Mr Della Bosca said the clinics were the latest Government initiative
highlighting the serious health consequences of cannabis use,
particularly to young people.

"The people coming to this clinic will be seeking treatment for
serious mental health, fitness and social problems caused by their
cannabis use," he said.

"This clinic will provide the medical expertise, surroundings and
encouragement to help cannabis users maintain the personal motivation
required to beat the addiction."

The Western Sydney Area Health Service will run the Parramatta clinic
in collaboration with the Salvation Army.

The NSW Government initiative was backed by the Opposition.

"I'm very pleased to see any initiative that makes it easier for
people who put their hand up to get off marijuana to do so,"
Opposition Leader John Brogden said.

The 2001 National Drug Strategy Household Survey reported that one in
three Australians aged 14 or older had used cannabis at some time in
their life. The highest prevalence age group for cannabis is 14-24.