Pubdate: Tue 17 Feb 1998 Source: Sydney Morning Herald Author: Matthew Russell Website: http://www.smh.com.au/ Contact: MPS DECIDE TO VETO SHOOTING GALLERIES TRIAL Trials of safe injecting rooms for intravenous drug users have been effectively quashed after a NSW parliamentary committee voted against the proposal yesterday. Coalition and right-wing Government members of the Joint Select Committee on Safe Injecting Rooms combined to reject the trial by six votes to four, with the two Independent and two ALP Left members dissenting. One of the Independents, Mr Ian Cohen, said that in NSW one death from overdose occurred each day. "The Government is more interested in the politics of the next election than it is in saving lives in NSW and I consider that to be a terrible tragedy," he said. The other Independent committee member, Ms Clover Moore, was particularly critical of the Labor Member for Cabramatta, Ms Reba Meagher, who put the rejection recommendation to the committee with the support of National and Liberal Party members. Ms Moore said the proposal was "not being adopted by the Government or the Opposition because they are too gutless". Ms Meagher said the committee decided to reject the trial because of safety concerns, the potential adverse impact on local communities and the possibility of creating drug ghettos. She said there was considerable concern that so-called "shooting galleries" would create a honeypot effect, attracting criminals and causing an increase in property crime. Establishing shooting galleries was also inconsistent with zero-tolerance policing, particularly in Cabramatta. "Across the political parties there was a point of view that this was an inappropriate medical trial," she said. Another committee member, the Liberal MLC Mr John Jobling, said the Government would be better off allocating the money to drug rehabilitation and treatment programs. The committee's recommendation was not surprising considering statements made by politicians on both sides in the past. Shortly after the committee was established on the recommendation of the Wood Royal Commission, the Premier, Mr Carr, said that bipartisan support would be required for the trials to proceed, and the Opposition was not prepared to pledge that support. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr Collins, said the Coalition was against the proposal. The committee's report will be released tomorrow. The committee spent $150,000, including a study tour by three members - Labor MLC Pat Staunton, who later resigned, Mr Jobling and Mr Cohen - including visits to Zurich and Amsterdam. The six members who voted against the trial were Labor parliamentarians Reba Meagher, George Thompson and Dorothy Isaaksen; Liberals Malcolm Kerr and John Jobling; and the National Party's Mr Bill Rixon. The four who voted in favour of the trial were Labor members Ann Symonds and John Mills, and Independents Clover Moore and Ian Cohen. There were 550 heroin overdose deaths in 1995, approximately half of them in NSW.