GALLOP REFORMS DRUG LAWS

Geoff Gallop has promised a shake-up in the way illicit drugs are treated
in Western Australia -- committing an additional $5million in funding for
drug services over the next 18 months and a relaxation of the penalties for
cannabis use.

In its response to the Community Drug Summit in August, released yesterday,
the Gallop Government extended the system of civil penalties, such as fines
and cautions, for the possession of small amounts of cannabis to keep users
out of the criminal justice system.

The Government also supported calls for a prescribed heroin trial -- lining
up on the issue with Victoria and the ACT -- but accepted that a national
study cannot be conducted without the agreement of the commonwealth.

Prime Minister John Howard has already rejected this approach.

Although it has accepted most of the recommendations of the landmark summit
in the state parliament in August, the Government has rejected for the
moment a call to investigate setting up a safe injecting room in Perth.

The Premier said he was keeping an open mind on the issue but did not
believe the initiative would work in the city, because it did not have one
area of high drug use such as Sydney's Kings Cross.

The Government's long-awaited response, which was delayed until after the
federal election, promises a seachange in the way illicit drug users are
treated in the state.

Acknowledging there would be critics, Dr Gallop said it was not a
"soft-on-drugs approach".

"We are a government which wants to make a difference. We are not
interested in ideological prejudice," he said.

The response suggests a greater focus on early intervention and increased
treatment options, under a new Drug and Alcohol Office to be set up within
the state health department.

Additional funds -- largely raised through rationalisation of the
department -- will go towards providing increased services, particularly
for young and indigenous drug users and their families.

The Government's approach was welcomed by drug treatment and research
specialists, who believe it meets the spirit of the summit.

Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation state president David Meotti welcomed
the decision to reform cannabis laws but said campaigners wanted to see
more details.

However, the plan had some critics, with drug users warning it did not do
enough to assist people who did not want to give up drugs, and the Liberal
Party claiming cannabis law reform would boost drug use.

Summit delegate Justin Woodruff, outreach co-ordinator with the Western
Australian Substance Users Association, said more needed to be done to
limit the risks for drug users.

He said the Government had not made enough progress in terms of
peer-education, needle and syringe exchanges, and preventing blood-borne
infections such as Hepatitis C, and had prejudged the value of an injection
room in Perth.

"We did not call for a safe injecting room to be opened, but for a
feasibility study. Rather than doing that, the cabinet has decided there
isn't a need," he said.