NEWS FEATURE: The Age 21 Mar 01: Chasing an answer

Chasing an answer
By CAROLINE OVERINGTON
Wednesday 21 March 2001
Olwen McKenzie is now in her 80s, but when she was a young woman she lived in Sydney's Kings Cross. "It was quite bohemian, just like a little Greenwich Village really," she says. "Lots of writers and journalists, and gorgeous little boutique shops that sold hats and gloves."
That was 1948. Things have changed.
"I left the Cross to raise six children and when I returned, in the late 1980s, I couldn't believe what I found," McKenzie says.
"It wasn't sly grog shops any more. It was high-grade heroin. Brothels and prostitutes. Garish, girly bars, the Pink Pussycat, and in every second doorway, a vile spruiker. And the place was absolutely flooded with pushers, people using drugs in the street, lying around in pools of vomit and urine, taxis being used as mobile brothels. I can't explain how disgusting it is."
Now, if you have been to the Cross but not, say, since the Sydney Olympics last September, you might now be thinking: oh, come on, it's not that bad. A bit gangsterish maybe, a little risque. But you would be wrong. Kings Cross is, in the year 2001, a sea of human decay...
Full feature: http://www.theage.com.au/news/2001/03/21/FFXSTOVGIKC.html

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This paints quite a stark picture, in emotive language, but seems worth a read.
BigTrancer
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Load universe into cannon. Aim at brain. Shoot.

Interesting article.Still though, hard to decide if I'm for or against injecting rooms.
The Heroin situation in Melbourne presently is on the wane(if only slightly)and from what I've heard it's hard to find and very expensive. Another reson why overdoses have dropped significantly so far this
year,compared to previous years.
Hopefully, the government can find some type of solution to the problem,I have no idea what that might be,but something definately needs to be done!

After reading this..i am beginning to have my doubts abt a "safe-injecting room".
Dun get me wrong but how is that solving the problem of heroin addiction??
let's be honest here, we are a harm minimsation grp here, but how are we helping in this cause?
i am at loss for for words...anyone wanna help me out here?

Nup definatly for safe injecting rooms. Their introduction will mark a great change and with any great change there inevitably has to be a period of adjustment and people are going to feel uncomfortable. Especially in a country as conservative(read: reluctant to change)as Australia. But hey we'll get over it and the herald-sun and their overdose toll can get stuffed.
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Enjoy the silence...

safe injecting rooms have pros and cons.. just seems like most of the cons are from the uneducated media, saying it "promotes drug use and allows dealing" and shit like that..
my personal opinion is that since they are going to do it anyway, i'd rather it be done in a safer environment which makes it safer for the whole community.. if safe injecting rooms mean that 1 addict takes 1 shot in a room instead of in a park, which in turn means that some poor kid doesnt step on the needle and gets aids/hiv, then its worth it..

Just my opinion..
If you look towards new things that have not already been tried (and failed), then the possible merits from such places have to be investigated. One life saved and it's definitely worth it.
Looking ahead as a future deterrent towards heroin use, think of this. If the "mystique" of heroin as often seen by new users was replaced by the image of those going in and out of an injecting centre, a clinic that caters to those with a life threatening problem, then perhaps the image of "cool" seen by many may be replaced with "condition".
Seeing the user as someone being dependent upon a substance which requires supervision to avoid death, may have an incredible effect at discouraging that first taste.
One can also see with reason, the hesitation of those apposed to such a program in their neighbourhood. If one looks at models in other countries however, where locals have little concern from similar programs that have been in place for some time, it would seem likely that unrest would eventually settle.
And as to where such places should be placed. Seems logical that they would be postioned central to districts of highest activity / mortality.
This is not to say there aren't those that can and do manage their heroin use, and for these people this would be perhaps a place for others. Having the option is what counts, both to the individual and to society, an option that could ultimately result in incidents of overdose being rare, and the heroin trade being taken off the streets.
Furthering such an initiative to a successful future would involve rehabilitation that offered various forms of withdrawal treatment. One option is giving heroin to adddicts, in a structured program that allows effective withdrawal by gradually reducing daily intake.
I know I'll probably be shot down for such views, but I've had a lot of friends go to this one, although I've also seen others manage use and not have it adversely affect their lives.
One sided such a proposal maybe, but I have no doubt something similar to this model will eventually exist. It's just how long and how many deaths will it take to get there.
phase_dancer

Personally I'd like to see safe injecting rooms because I work in the city very close to Little Bourke Street and our staff toilets the general public have access too and I am sick of having to call security because there is someone "shooting up" in our toilets or calling security to pick up someones dirty needles that were left on the ground when every cubicle has a syringe disposal box. I don't think its promoting their drug use..but more protecting us from their drug use.