Pubdate: Wed, 28 Nov 2001
Source: Australian, The (Australia)
Copyright: 2001 News Limited
Contact:  http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/35
Author: Belinda Hickman
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)

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.
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