EXPERT SAYS UN REPORT OF ECSTASY INJECTION INCREASE NOT NEW

SYDNEY -- The world anti-drugs body revelation that ecstasy injecting in
Australia had increased in the last 12 months was already common knowledge,
a leading drug expert said.

Drug use analyst David Crosbie said the United Nation's International
Narcotics Control Board (INCB) announcement in its annual report that
Australian ecstasy users were increasingly injecting the drug had been
documented for years.

"Two to three years ago it was revealed that over 50 per cent of
amphetamine users had injected the drug," he said.

Mr Crosbie, who is also involved in the treatment of drug users, said the
reason behind the increase in injecting amphetamines was that heroin had
not been readily available.

But he said he believed the trend was stabilising as the heroin drought eased.

There had also been an increase in poly-drug use and many users were also
injecting prescription drugs such a benzodiazepines, he said.

The INCB also said the strength of ecstasy had increased.

"Drug abusers are increasingly injecting methamphetamine with a high purity
level," the report said.

But Mr Crosbie said there was a greater range of the drug available rather
than just greater strength.

"There has been an increased range of amphetamines which includes
amphetamines which have more effects and more likely to cause psychosis,"
he said.

The report also said more amphetamines were produced in Australia in 2001.

The INCB is an independent and quasi-judicial control body elected by the
UN's economic and social council.