Source: Hobart Mercury (Australia)
Contact:  http://www.themercury.com.au/
Copyright: News Limited 1998
Pubdate: Thu, 15 Oct 1998
Author: Francesca Hodge

AIRLINE AID FOR DRUG USERS

Syringe disposal measure draws flak but AMA backs it

DRUG users who shoot up in aircraft toilets will soon be able to dispose of
their used needles safely.

In a world first for an airline, Ansett is installing syringe disposal bins
in the toilets of all its aircraft.

Joondalup MP Chris Baker, who chaired the State parliamentary select
committee inquiry into drugs, was amazed at the decision.

"It's the thin edge of the wedge," he said yesterday. "My concern is that
it's another small step towards the normalisation of drug use."

The Salvation Army's Major Brian Watters, who chairs Prime Minister John
Howard's National Council on Drugs, said it sent out a message of surrender
and tacit approval of drug abuse.

Ansett spokesman Peter Young said the airline's 80-strong international and
domestic fleet would be provided with the bins by the end of the year.

In the past two years, an increasing number of used syringes had been found
in toilets.

One had been jammed in a seat.

"It's our clear responsibility to protect our staff and customers from the
possibility of being pricked and the safest way of ensuring that is to
provide the bins," Mr Young said.

"Drug users on the whole do not have a responsible attitude to their own
health but research shows there is a high degree of compliance when it
comes to using bins when they are made available."

Mr Young defended airport security that allowed drugs and needles to get
through.

Plastic syringes contained the same amount of metal as a watch hand and
were small enough to conceal, he said.

While cigarette smoking was easily detectable, drug taking was not.

If a passenger was found carrying illicit drugs, they would be handed over
to police.

A Qantas spokesman confirmed the airline was reviewing the effectiveness of
syringe bins but would soon provide "sharps containers" in its medical kits
carried on domestic flights.

The containers would be used when a passenger, such as a diabetic, wanted
to dispose of a needle safely.

The Australian Medical Association gave its support to Ansett's decision.

State president Rosanna Capolingua-Host said it was a realistic approach to
the drug problem.

"You have to remember they are not protecting the drug users, they are
protecting the innocent people on the planes." she said.

The AMA did not condone illicit drug use but wanted to see the public protected.

But Mr Baker did not believe all injecting drug users would make use of the
bins and there was no certain corresponding benefit to public safety.

He said Ansett would he better off directing its staff to check the toilets
after each passenger left and if a syringe was found, search them for
drugs.

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Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson