Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2001
Source: International Herald-Tribune (France)
Copyright: International Herald Tribune 2001
Contact:  http://www.iht.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/212

SYDNEY, HOPING TO HELP ADDICTS, OPENS LEGAL INJECTION CENTER

Heroin addicts in this city's most notorious drug den, an area called 
King's Cross, used to rent rooms for 15 to 30 minutes at a time in shooting 
galleries, cheap hotels that sometimes also sold drugs and syringes.

The police cracked down five years ago. It did not end the problem, but 
simply moved it into parks and back streets where, to the aggravation of 
residents, syringes were left tossed on sidewalks or discarded under trees. 
Overdoses, in fact, have been on the rise.

The government, desperate to improve the situation and after months of 
legal challenges, this week allowed a former pinball hall in the heart of 
King's Cross to open as Australia's first legal and medically supervised 
injecting center.

Advocates like the Reverend Ray Richmond, of the nearby Wayside Chapel, 
said he hoped the center would ''meet some of the users' needs, but also 
meet the needs of the community.''

But advocates are cautious in describing the center's mission and the ills 
that it will not or cannot cure, like drug-related crime, and even the drug 
use itself.

''The main purpose of the injecting center is a harm-minimization measure, 
'' explained the Reverend Harry Herbert, executive director of Uniting 
Care, the church-affiliated group that is operating the center, which is 
paid for by the government.

''Some of our supporters tend to overemphasize what the center will 
achieve,'' he added. ''If they set the bar too high, we'll never climb over 
that.''

Though new to Australia, medically supervised injecting centers are not a 
new idea in other parts of the world. Over the past decade, 45 have been 
set up in Europe, including in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands. In 
Frankfurt, deaths from overdose fell by one quarter in the three years 
after that city's program started.

The purpose of such centers is primarily to provide a safe place for 
addicts to inject drugs.  Australian research has found more than 80 
percent of those who shoot up in public would prefer to use a supervised 
center. And, according to an independent survey last year, 71 percent of 
people who live and work in King's Cross support the center there.

The center opened Sunday night, and according to its medical director, Dr. 
Ingrid van Beek, eight addicts used it during the first shift. Within a 
month or so, the center will be open for a pair of four-hour shifts daily.

Inside the building, which has a security guard, visitors enter a reception 
room that looks like a doctor's office. Users must be at least 18 years old 
and provide medical staff with information about themselves and their drug 
taking before being registered. The center will be restricted to those 
registered, and no one drunk or pregnant will be allowed to inject drugs.

A second area inside resembles an examining room, with stainless-steel 
countertops and sterile equipment. Specially trained nurses will hand out 
needles and swabs to users who will sit at one of eight booths, which offer 
privacy, but also allow staff members to monitor activity. The center has 
oxygen supplies and other materials required in case of an overdose.

In a separate lounge with an adjoining counseling room, staff will be able 
to offer information about treatment and social services, like housing 
assistance.

The center's presence, which was first authorized in legislation passed by 
the state legislature in 1999, has been opposed by local businesses. The 
King's Cross Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, which failed in a lawsuit to 
stop the center from opening, says it is already harming business.

The legislation that permitted the center to open also requires an 
independent panel to evaluate its effects regularly, as critics fear the 
center will only increase the flow of drugs to the area and exacerbate 
associated problems.

''It's going to be a disaster,'' said Malcolm Duncan, the chamber's senior 
vice president. ''We can only see things getting worse.''
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