States can back out of heroin trial deal

By STEVE DOW,
health editor,Cairns

The controversial Australian Capital Territory heroin trial will
begin in several months after a political compromise that allows any
state or territory outside Canberra to back out.

Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania yesterday
agreed to support a pilot program of 40 registered heroin users in
Canberra as part of a package hailed by the ACT's Chief Minister, Ms
Kate Carnell, as the nation's greatest breakthrough in drug treatment
for 25 years.

The ACT and the Federal Government agreed to fund the program when
the nation's health ministers met in Cairns at the Ministerial
Council on Drug Strategy.

But phase two, involving 250 Canberra addicts, and phase three,
involving 1000 addicts across three cities, remain uncertain.

Phase one alone was seen as the only way of getting the support of a
majority of states to begin the trials.

The NSW Premier, Mr Bob Carr, last week said NSW would not be
involved in phase three, and Victoria was equivocal about its involvement.

But the NSW Health Minister, Mr Andrew Refshauge, said yesterday the
NSW Government had "always supported stage one" and that no decision
had been made about involvement in stage three.

Victoria's Health Minister, Mr Rob Knowles, said yesterday: "We'll
make a decision when we get to the stage (stage three)."

The Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, said before the meeting that he would
involve Victoria in a trial if Mr Knowles recommended it after the
meeting.

The ACT did not propose that other states commit
to the trial at
this stage.

The written resolution from yesterday's meeting makes it clear that
heroin is "unlikely to be more than a minor component of (a) range of options".

A National Expert Advisory Committee on Drugs will be established to
coordinate illicit drug research throughout Australia.

The ministers also agreed to trials of the heroin substitute
buprenorphine in Victoria, South Australia, NSW and the ACT;
naltrexone in Victoria, South Australia and NSW; LAAM in Victoria and
South Australia; and oral morphine in Victoria.

The heroin trial will need approval from the International Narcotics
Control Board and the Commission of Narcotic Drugs. It will also have
to meet standards under international treaties.

The federal Health Minister, Dr Michael Wooldridge, said Australia
had to look at a whole range of treatment options for heroin. "I
think it's dangerous to look at heroin as if it's some magic cure as
it may be totally ineffective," he said.

Ms Carnell said heroin might or might not be better than the other
drugs as treatment for heroin addiction.

In the United Kingdom, heroin is available on prescription and a
Swiss trial of 1000 addicts has reported a reduction in crime and
improvement of addicts' wellbeing, but has not yet received
evaluation from the World Health Organisation.

The meeting also released the report of an evaluation of Australia's
National Drug Strategy. The report said the time had come to refocus
the strategy with a "greater emphasis on the capability to
proactively respond to drug issues, accountability, coordination,
directed research, longterm strategic planning and education and
training".