Pubdate: Mon, 12 Oct 1998
Source: The West Australian
Contact: FAX: +61 8 94823830
Author: John Flint

NEW DRUG CENTRE FOR CITY

Northbriclge glad to see clinic go, says councillor

DRUG treatment services are to be centralised in East Perth with a new $1
million methadone clinic to replace the overcrowded facility in
Northbridge.

Health Minister John Day said yesterday that long-standing complaints from
Northbridge businesses about the William Street clinic was one reason
behind the relocation.

The clinic, which had been accused of attracting drug dealers to
Northbridge's entertainment and restaurant precinct, was too small to
handle the number of new cases.

"Over the past two years we have seen an 85 per cent increase in the number
of heroin users seeking treatment for their addiction," he said.

"At one stage there were up to 700 people turning up each day."

The new facility, which is due to open next July, will be next to the
Alcohol and Drug Authority's Central Drug Unit in Moore Street.

Perth City councillor Bert Tudori said Northbridge businesses would breathe
a sigh of relief when they saw the back of the William Street clinic.

But he feared that the anti-social problems that afflicted Northbridge
would soon be felt in the new location.

"They are only shifting the problem from one area to another," he said. "I
have already had calls from people worried about its new location."

"These clinics should be inside hospitals."

"The Northbridge clinic should never have been put there. The problems
might stop for a couple of days and then you get a rash of complaints come
in. They are usually about bad behaviour and begging for money or
cigarettes," Cr Tudori said.

Mr Day said that the William Street clinic, which was originally converted
from a carpet warehouse, was no longer suitable. It would be sold to help
finance the new clinic.

There was an incompatibility between the administration of methadone to
addicts in an area where there was a wide range or community activities.

The East Perth facility would consolidate drug and alcohol treatment at one
site. It would be staffed by doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, social
and welfare workers and nurse
counsellors.

"The centre as a whole will incorporate a methadone clinic, a pharmacy
dispensary, a doctors' advisory service, a residential detoxification unit,
specialist out-patient services and also a 24-hour drug helpline," he said.

Mr Day said a special unit would be added specifically for the treatment of
teenage drug abusers.

About 1800 heroin addicts were being treated with methadone in WA. The
community methadone program involved 42 general practitioners and 148
pharmacists.

"There is no waiting list to get on to the program," he said.

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Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson