Pubdate: Thu, 27 Apr 2000
Source: Age, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2000 David Syme & Co Ltd
Contact:  250 Spencer Street, Melbourne, 3000, Australia
Website: http://www.theage.com.au/
Author: Adrian Rollins And Sophie Douez

DRUG PROJECT MAY EXPAND ACROSS STATE

The Victorian Government is close to securing Commonwealth support to take 
its ground-breaking diversion program for drug offenders statewide.

Health Minister John Thwaites said that negotiations with the Federal 
Government to fund the expansion of a program to divert drug users from 
crime into rehabilitation were "pretty much final".

Victoria is eligible for a $23 million share of a $220 million fund 
announced by the Commonwealth last year to support drug rehabilitation and 
other treatment programs.

Mr Thwaites said that the government wanted to build on the success of a 
pilot drug diversion program in Melbourne's northern suburbs and expand it 
statewide.

The minister said that an expert evaluation of the program showed it had 
the potential to help drug users, particularly young people, to break out 
of a cycle of drug taking and crime.

"This evaluation is a real indication that if you do point drug users, 
particularly young people, in the right direction many of them will take up 
the opportunity," he said.

Chief Commissioner Neil Comrie said that police fully supported the 
expansion of the program, under which apprehended drug users receive a 
caution if they agree to undergo treatment.

Sixty people passed through the program during its trial, half of them 21 
years or younger. Of those, 35 per cent chose to stay in treatment after 
going through the process.

Paul McDonald, chief executive of the Youth Substance Abuse Service, which 
has treated those aged 21 or under who have been diverted through the 
program, said yesterday that more than half had come back for more 
treatment after they had completed their stated requirement.

"One of the furphies around the drug debate is that young people are 
reluctant to go for assistance or treatment," he said.

"We've found time and again that young people actually want help and it 
(the drug diversion program) puts them in the right place to deal with 
their issues."

Mr Comrie yesterday said that the program could help about 8000 Victorians 
each year access drug treatment services.

Police Minister Andre Haermeyer said that it was far better to get such 
people into treatment rather than put them in prison.

"The chances of them coming into contact with drugs in the prison system is 
greater than in the general community," he said.

Mr Haermeyer said that the program was based on the principle that drug use 
was a health rather than criminal issue, but it did not mean the government 
was "soft on drugs". "Traffickers, dealers ... these people will be hit 
with the full force of the law," he said.

Mr Comrie said that the state-wide implementation of the drug diversion 
pilot would free police resources to concentrate on traffickers.

Mr Thwaites said that the diversion program was an important part of the 
government's overall drugs strategy, and Commonwealth funding was vital to 
its expansion.

"The Commonwealth has supported this program and is considering making a 
major funding initiative to enable the expansion," he said.

Negotiations began before Christmas and are expected to be finalised next 
month.
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