Pubdate: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 Source: Australian, The (Australia) Copyright: 2001 News Limited {YEAR} Contact: Box 339 GPO Adelaide, SA 5001 Fax: (08) 8206-3688 Website: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ Author: John Kerin PM'S DRUG CLEAN-OUT Drug groups last night condemned a move by John Howard to revamp the country's leading drugs advisory body. The criticism follows confirmation that as many as five members of the Australian National Council on Drugs, which is headed by the Salvation Army's Major Brian Watters, will not be kept on for new terms. Those going include the founder of Family Drug Support, Tony Trimingham, Wesley Noffs of the Ted Noffs Foundation and Karen Hart, the former head of the National School Principals Association. Wayne Hall, the head of the University of NSW National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, has resigned. The president of the Families and Friends for Drug Law Reform, Brian McConnell, said last night that its representative, Mr Trimingham had been "sacked". "After the Ryan by-election, the Prime Minister said he was now listening to the community . . . but this shows he is not listening," Mr McConnell said. He said Mr Trimingham favoured strategies such as heroin trials and injecting rooms, but these did not fit Mr Howard's ideologies. The Australian Intravenous League, a body representing illicit drug users, said it was dismayed at the changes. "Without adequate consumer representation, how can the council possibly reflect the needs of the people most affected by illicit drugs?" executive officer Annie Madden said. "(This) will not help the lives of the many thousands of drug users who were hoping for change and a humane response," she said. But Mr Howard said in a statement that new appointments would add to the range of expertise on the council. "(Claims) that members of the Australian National Council on Drugs will not be reappointed because they do not support a zero-tolerance approach to drug policy . . . and that they are making way for those who do support such an approach are wrong," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager