Jabberwocky
Frumious Bandersnatch
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- Nov 3, 1999
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THE shocking rise in the use of illegal drugs across the state has prompted calls for more injection rooms where addicts can go to shoot up, secret documents reveal.
The Saturday Telegraph can reveal that among those calling for more drug injection centres are the state Education Department, the Advocate for Children and Young People and the University of NSW.
And the operator of the only injecting room in the southern hemisphere — in Sydney’s Kings Cross — has claimed the only reason there are not more centres is because they are not politically palatable.
Marrickville, Liverpool and Lismore have been named as areas that would benefit from a drug centre.
But despite the push, a recent review of the laws made no recommendation for another injection site.
Addicts bring drugs to the Darlinghurst Rd centre and are given clean needles and health advice.
The head of the Department of Education’s indigenous affairs section Jason Ardler wrote that the Kings Cross location restricted indigenous intravenous drug users — who make up 10 per cent of the centre’s patrons — from accessing it.
“Consideration should be given to expanding the centre into Western Sydney and regional areas where there is an identified need, community support and the availability of health, treatment and other services,” he wrote.
There have been one million injections since the Kings Cross centre opened its doors in 2001, and its operator, Uniting, has recommended laws be amended so another centre can open.
“We submit the restriction that only one centre can be licensed at any one time operates solely as a reassuring message for political purposes that may have resonated at the time the legislation was passed, but less so now,” the Uniting document reads.
The chief executive officer of Family Drug Support Tony Trimingham has also called for more centres.
“It is a profound disappointment that it continues to be the only facility of its kind in Australia, particularly given the increasing level of drug-related harms and overdoses occurring at present,” Mr Trimingham wrote.
Andrew Johnson, the Advocate for Children and Young People, said ice use was increasing among the injecting room’s patrons.
“ACYP suggests that upward trends in the frequency of ice use … indicate there may be demand for (more centres).”
A group of experts from the University of NSW wants the law restricting the number of drug rooms to be scrapped.
They said the centre provided an “early warning system” for new drug trends.
Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said the state’s worsening drug problem warranted more centres.
“The drug problem has got worse not better,” he said. “We need another room.”
Former drug addict Anthony Palermo, 40, also supports more injecting rooms. “If that injection room saves just one person every year who turns their life around like me, then I think it’s worth it,” he said.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...s/news-story/9a7aedcfde8574dee396c0cf9066f96f
The Saturday Telegraph can reveal that among those calling for more drug injection centres are the state Education Department, the Advocate for Children and Young People and the University of NSW.
And the operator of the only injecting room in the southern hemisphere — in Sydney’s Kings Cross — has claimed the only reason there are not more centres is because they are not politically palatable.
Marrickville, Liverpool and Lismore have been named as areas that would benefit from a drug centre.
But despite the push, a recent review of the laws made no recommendation for another injection site.
Addicts bring drugs to the Darlinghurst Rd centre and are given clean needles and health advice.
The head of the Department of Education’s indigenous affairs section Jason Ardler wrote that the Kings Cross location restricted indigenous intravenous drug users — who make up 10 per cent of the centre’s patrons — from accessing it.
“Consideration should be given to expanding the centre into Western Sydney and regional areas where there is an identified need, community support and the availability of health, treatment and other services,” he wrote.
There have been one million injections since the Kings Cross centre opened its doors in 2001, and its operator, Uniting, has recommended laws be amended so another centre can open.
“We submit the restriction that only one centre can be licensed at any one time operates solely as a reassuring message for political purposes that may have resonated at the time the legislation was passed, but less so now,” the Uniting document reads.
The chief executive officer of Family Drug Support Tony Trimingham has also called for more centres.
“It is a profound disappointment that it continues to be the only facility of its kind in Australia, particularly given the increasing level of drug-related harms and overdoses occurring at present,” Mr Trimingham wrote.
Andrew Johnson, the Advocate for Children and Young People, said ice use was increasing among the injecting room’s patrons.
“ACYP suggests that upward trends in the frequency of ice use … indicate there may be demand for (more centres).”
A group of experts from the University of NSW wants the law restricting the number of drug rooms to be scrapped.
They said the centre provided an “early warning system” for new drug trends.
Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation president Alex Wodak said the state’s worsening drug problem warranted more centres.
“The drug problem has got worse not better,” he said. “We need another room.”
Former drug addict Anthony Palermo, 40, also supports more injecting rooms. “If that injection room saves just one person every year who turns their life around like me, then I think it’s worth it,” he said.
Source: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...s/news-story/9a7aedcfde8574dee396c0cf9066f96f
