Pubdate: Sat, 10 Oct 1998 Source: Advertiser, The (Australia) Contact: 15 Author: Leonie Mellor CITY COUNCIL JOINS NATIONAL DRIVE TO REDUCE HEROIN DEATHS, CRIME Push for drug havens SAFE houses for injecting heroin and cocaine could be established in supervised areas such as medical clinics in the city. Adelaide City Council has agreed to explore ways of legally establishing the areas which would provide sterilised needles, prescribed doses of heroin for long-term drug addicts, education and health information. The new measures are being considered by all capital cities to find ways of reducing the increasing number of overdoses and drug-related crime. Earlier this week, the city council signed the Australian Capital Cities Resolution on Drugs, proposed by the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors. The resolution says policing has failed to stop people supplying and using hard drugs and new approaches are needed. It calls for authorities to focus more on offering counselling and treatment than punishment to drug addicts. The resolution also says capital cities should find ways to legally establish places promoting "safer, medically supervised injecting practices". In signing the resolution, the council also agreed to: PUSH for more State and federal funding to expand services that help people to escape from heroin addiction. DISCUSS with community groups, drug users, police, traders and government authorities ways of reducing the effects of drug abuse on the community. Adelaide City Council has agreed to set up a drug advisory group after its elections later this year. Lord Mayor Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, a member of the Capital City Lord Mayors council, said yesterday that setting up facilities such as safe houses and providing controlled prescriptions of heroin had helped solve drug problems overseas. But she said the Adelaide community was not yet ready to accept the radical change. She predicted safe houses would be established in Adelaide, but not until hard drugs were decriminalised. "It is futile to pretend that any degree of policing can keep drugs out of this country," Dr Lomax-Smith said. "If we can't keep it out of prisons how can we keep it out of the country." - --- Checked-by: Mike Gogulski