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Heroin
Injection
Center
Wins
Approval
in
Sydney
8/22/00
Eighteen months after the
New South Wales Drug Summit recommended a package of reforms to drug laws,
including trial of a medically supervised heroin injecting room, the Sydney
Morning Herald has reported that the Uniting Church has received a license
to operate Australia's first legal heroin injection room in Sydney's Kings
Cross section.
Sydney Police Commissioner
Peter Ryan, and the director-general of health, Mick Reid, issued the license
for a former pinball parlor this week.
The Uniting Church's Rev.
Harry Herbert told the Morning Herald: "We are very pleased to get
the license, at last. This means we can start the eight to ten week
building renovation works and start recruiting staff and so open the doors
before the end of the year if all goes well."
The injection room will operate
with two previously undisclosed restrictions. One bans pregnant women
from using the facility, and the other bars providing needles to anyone
other than those planning to use the center.
Dr. Alex Wodak, head of St
Vincent's Hospital drug and alcohol services, is unhappy with the latter
provision.
"The ban on needle exchange
is unfortunate because there may be people who come into the place and
decide they are not going to use the facility as an injecting room but
are going to use some other aspects of it such as counseling and that should
be encouraged," he told the Morning Herald.
Wodak also noted that the
last-minute restrictions highlighted the political pressures brought by
opponents and that they "distort the trial and risks diminishing the benefits
of the facility."
-- END --
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Issue #150, 8/22/00
Los Angeles Shadow Convention Energizes Reformers for November and Beyond | Chronic Pain Doctor and Pharmacy Under Assault in California Case | Interview with Chris Conrad | Apprendi Sentencing Ruling Begins to Bite | Heroin Injection Center Wins Approval in Sydney | Appeals Court Denies Government's Request for Emergency Order Halting Oakland CBC from Distributing Marijuana | RESOURCES: Drug War Facts Updated, TomPaine.com Drug War Feature This Week, Alternet, Spanish Language Documents, More | Benefit Screening for Jack Herer | Errata | Alerts: Colombia, Mandatory Minimums, California, New York | HEA Campaign | Event Calendar | Job Listings (NYC): Streetwork Project | Editorial: No Fringe Group
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