Pubdate: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 Source: Canberra Times (Australia) Copyright: 2000 Canberra Times Contact: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/ Author: Jane Craig USE OF HEROIN IS NOT WIDESPREAD MS SAUNDERS (Letters, September 15) wonders where "these people" get their information. If she had read my letter carefully, she would have seen that it was ACT Drug Trends 1999, put out by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre. I have no doubt that if, as she suggests, I were to "sit in His Honour's court for a day or two" I would know "the true incidence of heroin use among those who come before him". That was exactly my point this group of people would have a higher percentage of illicit drug use, theft, assault (and any other crime you care to name) than the wider community. I'm not silly enough to assume that none of the people I know or work with have ever tried heroin or use it let alone their sons and daughters. But Ms Saunders seems to think that I live with my head in the sand. Not so. I socialise, work, and have other contact with at least 500 people in the ACT and, using the figures I quoted, 2 per cent would have used it at least once making a total of 10. But only 0.4 per cent would have used it in the last 12 months making a total of 2. That shows heroin use is not widespread and neither Ms Saunders nor Chief Justice Miles should pretend that it is. JANE CRAIG Macgregor - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart