GALLOP: WE FAVOUR SCRIPT HEROIN TRIAL

THE State Government says it wants a prescription heroin trial but it will
not go ahead because of Federal Government opposition.

Premier Geoff Gallop and Health Minister Bob Kucera said yesterday that the
Government supported all but one of the 47 recommendations from the
100-member Community Drug Summit in August. Eighty delegates were from the
community and 20 from policy and research.

The Government has not supported a safe injecting room in Perth, like the
one operating in Sydney's King's Cross, but the summit called only for
consideration of that issue because of reservations among delegates about
the need for such a centre in Perth.

Dr Gallop said cannabis laws would be reformed because small-time users
were taking up valuable police time and clogging the courts when police
should be targeting the Mr Bigs.

He said that while the Government was focused on treating the drug problem
as a health issue, it had toughened laws targeting organised crime and drug
dealers.

"While the use of cannabis should not be condoned or encouraged, the
Government accepts the view of the Community Drug Summit that small-time
users should not carry the stigma of a criminal conviction for the rest of
their lives," he said.

Dr Gallop said the Government would ask the Federal Government to approve a
medically supervised heroin prescription trial, adding that all options
should be tried, given the gravity of the drug problem in WA and Australia.

But he said Prime Minister John Howard had made it clear that he opposed
such a trial.

The Government will save money and cut jobs by merging three drug agencies
into a new Drug and Alcohol Office which is expected to be operating by March.

It will increase spending on drug and alcohol services of $51 million a
year by $5 million over 18 months with about half of that being spent on
increased family support, youth rehabilitation (targeting young amphetamine
users needing treatment), improving general practitioners"services and a
withdrawal and rehabilitation service specifically designed for Aborigines.

Greens MLC Christine Sharp gave the Government's response a score of 4 out
of 10 and criticised the lack of extra services in the bush despite a dire
need.

"In particular, there is no allocation for accommodation. This (the $5
million) is little more than window dressing in terms of real dollars," she
said.

Opposition Leader Colin Barnett said that while most of the recommendations
were good, the approach to cannabis and support for heroin trials would not
reduce the drug problem.