DRUG REFORM GROUP RENEWS CALLS FOR HEROIN TRIAL

There are new calls for the Prime Minister, John Howard, to reverse his
opposition to a heroin trial in Canberra.

The Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform president, Brian McConnell,
says the results of a Dutch study have shown very good results after the
use of prescription heroin.

The government study found supervised co-prescription of heroin and
methadone was more effective than methadone alone and that improvements in
health and reductions in criminal activities were evident very quickly.

Mr McConnell says the study should also allay Mr Howard's concerns about
the results of an earlier Swiss study, which showed the same results, but
did not have a control group.

"The Dutch trial has had a control group on methadone only and compared
that with the experimental group that was on methadone and heroin and the
results were very positive and demonstrated beyond doubt that heroin
prescription did improve the health and social functioning," he said.