Source: The Advertiser (Australia) Contact: Website: http://www.advertiser.com.au/ Pubdate: Wed, 16 Nov 1998 Section: Editorial Page: 16 A WAR SLIGHTLY WON ALMOST with one step forward and one back, Australia is moving towards a more sensible, less hysterical approach to the crisis of hard drugs and, especially, heroin addiction. Our series of reports from the front line today includes confirmation that trials here of the blocking medication naltrexone, among a small group of Adelaide addicts, have been successful. This came as absolutely no surprise to those with first-hand knowledge of the problem and the possible solution. It is not only the members of the trial group who have proved the almost miraculous capability of naltrexone treatment: it is also the number of addicts who have sought available private treatment. What an appalling failure of health services and State Government it is therefore that responsible agencies offering this hope, this chance of a new life, such as Drug Aid of SA, are faced with imminent closure because they are starved of funds. As well as embracing a heroin trial program, surely confronted with evidence of the value of this treatment, the Olsen Government can think laterally and act positively. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake