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Angry Richmond traders and residents say heroin-shooting gallery is not the answer
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has dismissed calls for a trial of injecting rooms, saying Labor would not break an election commitment by changing drug laws.
But Mr Andrews said there was a need for “new thinking” on rampant drug use in inner-city areas and pledged to investigate alternative answers.
“There are more things you can do, we think there are further supports, further funding, and a greater focus on this and that’s exactly what we will be doing,” he said.
“There are other things you can do without taking that very big step towards providing supervised injecting facilities.”
Mr Andrews said Labor would stand by election commitments.
“We had a position before the election, and unlike other governments, particularly the national government, we are not changing that position,” he said.
“We do not support the introduction of supervised injecting facilities.
“There are other ways in which we can provide support to those IV-drug users — whether it’s needle and syringe exchange services, pharmacotherapy services.”
He said the state was the authority on whether injecting rooms could be legal.
“The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act, which is an act of the State Parliament, is very much central to this, and we... will not change it,” he said.
A new push to set up a legal heroin-shooting gallery in one of Melbourne’s most drug-affected suburbs — dubbed “zombie town” — has angered traders and residents.
They are tired of junkies littering Richmond’s streets with discarded syringes.
But Yarra Council, the Yarra Drug and Health Forum, the Greens, the Australian Sex Party, and the Australian Medical Association are keen for the State Government to follow NSW’s lead by sanctioning a six-month trial of a supervised injecting room.
Local police fear the arrival of the state’s first injecting room could attract more dealers to Richmond, keen to feed the habit of desperate addicts, leading to an increase in crime.
They say more than 60 per cent of crooks caught there, including drug dealers, come from outside Richmond.
“They deal, use and steal,” said Inspector Bernie Edwards of the Yarra division.
Richmond Asian Business Association spokesman Meca Ho said Victoria St traders were against the injecting room, saying addicts were already scaring away customers.
“It’s getting worse, not better,” he said. “I liken them to zombies, it’s like zombie town.”
“People are too scared to walk down Victoria St because they don’t feel safe — we don’t need a shop attracting more,” Mr Ho said. Richmond resident Jackson Ly was also not impressed.
“An injecting room will just encourage more drug use, not less,” he said.
With drug dealing and illicit use rife around the Richmond Housing Estate, one Yarra councillor fears the area is starting to resemble crime- ridden parts of Los Angeles.
The Sunday Herald Sun visited the estate and photographed druggies injecting heroin just metres from kids’ playgrounds and a primary school.
Users in drug-induced states were seen aggressively menacing pedestrians, while two addicts brazenly shot-up in a multi-storey carpark.
Some continue to dump used syringes in streets and laneways, posing a particular health risk to young children.
Cr Stephen Jolly said residents in Richmond and Abbotsford often felt unsafe witnessing drug-related behaviour or stumbling across discarded syringes.
“We need to find a solution because the illegal drug industry is making life intolerable for residents,” he said.
“People are finding syringes in sandpits, yards and laneways and they’re sick of it,” he said.
AMA Victoria vice president Dr Gary Speck said heroin contributed to the deaths of 132 Victorians in 2013.
“Access to sterile needles does not result in an increase in the number of people using heroin, rather it reduces the chance of users contracting viruses such as hepatitis C or HIV,” he said.
“It allows drug users to be helped. It is time to bring Victoria’s approach into the 21st century.”
Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the State Government did not support supervised injecting rooms.
“Harm minimisation and evidence-based responses to drug use like needle and syringe programs, pharmacotherapies, as well as treatment and support services, are our focus,” he said.
Police vow to win war on drugs
A VETERAN police inspector admits containing the drugs scourge in Richmond is an uphill battle, but one police remain determined to win.
Addicts have turned parts of Melbourne’s biggest public housing estate into makeshift shooting galleries.
Inspector Bernie Edwards, due to finish a four-year spell as Yarra Police inspector in coming weeks, said the drug menace was an ongoing fight.
“People talk about adopting a zero-tolerance hardline approach, but that doesn’t work,” Insp Edwards said.
“You can’t win by just putting people in jail. What you have to do is try and break that cycle of use.”
Read the whole article -
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...s-not-the-answer/story-fni0fit3-1227219987366
PREMIER Daniel Andrews has dismissed calls for a trial of injecting rooms, saying Labor would not break an election commitment by changing drug laws.
But Mr Andrews said there was a need for “new thinking” on rampant drug use in inner-city areas and pledged to investigate alternative answers.
“There are more things you can do, we think there are further supports, further funding, and a greater focus on this and that’s exactly what we will be doing,” he said.
“There are other things you can do without taking that very big step towards providing supervised injecting facilities.”
Mr Andrews said Labor would stand by election commitments.
“We had a position before the election, and unlike other governments, particularly the national government, we are not changing that position,” he said.
“We do not support the introduction of supervised injecting facilities.
“There are other ways in which we can provide support to those IV-drug users — whether it’s needle and syringe exchange services, pharmacotherapy services.”
He said the state was the authority on whether injecting rooms could be legal.
“The Drugs, Poisons and Controlled Substances Act, which is an act of the State Parliament, is very much central to this, and we... will not change it,” he said.
A new push to set up a legal heroin-shooting gallery in one of Melbourne’s most drug-affected suburbs — dubbed “zombie town” — has angered traders and residents.
They are tired of junkies littering Richmond’s streets with discarded syringes.
But Yarra Council, the Yarra Drug and Health Forum, the Greens, the Australian Sex Party, and the Australian Medical Association are keen for the State Government to follow NSW’s lead by sanctioning a six-month trial of a supervised injecting room.
Local police fear the arrival of the state’s first injecting room could attract more dealers to Richmond, keen to feed the habit of desperate addicts, leading to an increase in crime.
They say more than 60 per cent of crooks caught there, including drug dealers, come from outside Richmond.
“They deal, use and steal,” said Inspector Bernie Edwards of the Yarra division.
Richmond Asian Business Association spokesman Meca Ho said Victoria St traders were against the injecting room, saying addicts were already scaring away customers.
“It’s getting worse, not better,” he said. “I liken them to zombies, it’s like zombie town.”
“People are too scared to walk down Victoria St because they don’t feel safe — we don’t need a shop attracting more,” Mr Ho said. Richmond resident Jackson Ly was also not impressed.
“An injecting room will just encourage more drug use, not less,” he said.
With drug dealing and illicit use rife around the Richmond Housing Estate, one Yarra councillor fears the area is starting to resemble crime- ridden parts of Los Angeles.
The Sunday Herald Sun visited the estate and photographed druggies injecting heroin just metres from kids’ playgrounds and a primary school.
Users in drug-induced states were seen aggressively menacing pedestrians, while two addicts brazenly shot-up in a multi-storey carpark.
Some continue to dump used syringes in streets and laneways, posing a particular health risk to young children.
Cr Stephen Jolly said residents in Richmond and Abbotsford often felt unsafe witnessing drug-related behaviour or stumbling across discarded syringes.
“We need to find a solution because the illegal drug industry is making life intolerable for residents,” he said.
“People are finding syringes in sandpits, yards and laneways and they’re sick of it,” he said.
AMA Victoria vice president Dr Gary Speck said heroin contributed to the deaths of 132 Victorians in 2013.
“Access to sterile needles does not result in an increase in the number of people using heroin, rather it reduces the chance of users contracting viruses such as hepatitis C or HIV,” he said.
“It allows drug users to be helped. It is time to bring Victoria’s approach into the 21st century.”
Mental Health Minister Martin Foley said the State Government did not support supervised injecting rooms.
“Harm minimisation and evidence-based responses to drug use like needle and syringe programs, pharmacotherapies, as well as treatment and support services, are our focus,” he said.
Police vow to win war on drugs
A VETERAN police inspector admits containing the drugs scourge in Richmond is an uphill battle, but one police remain determined to win.
Addicts have turned parts of Melbourne’s biggest public housing estate into makeshift shooting galleries.
Inspector Bernie Edwards, due to finish a four-year spell as Yarra Police inspector in coming weeks, said the drug menace was an ongoing fight.
“People talk about adopting a zero-tolerance hardline approach, but that doesn’t work,” Insp Edwards said.
“You can’t win by just putting people in jail. What you have to do is try and break that cycle of use.”
Read the whole article -
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/vi...s-not-the-answer/story-fni0fit3-1227219987366
