Pubdate: Mon, 17 May 1999 Source: Illawarra Mercury (Australia) Copyright: Illawarra Newspapers Contact: http://mercury.illnews.com.au/ NO MAGIC CURE FOR DRUGS: CARR On the eve of his controversial drugs summit, NSW Premier Bob Carr said the forum won't produce a magic cure for the heroin scourge. Mr Carr said he had realistic hopes rather than high expectations for the summit. ``There's no instant solution. Action against drugs will only work if we've got every part of the community working together,'' Mr Carr said. The five-day summit was born out of concern at a newspaper photograph of a teenage boy shooting up heroin on a Sydney street before the March state election. The issue rekindled the national debate on how the drug epidemic should be handled, sparking renewed calls for a heroin trial and safe injecting rooms. In defiance of drugs laws, a church-backed injecting room was opened at Sydney's Wayside Chapel, only to be temporarily closed late last week after a police raid. Debate has also raged over the invitation list to the summit, which has been widely criticised for not including certain stakeholders, including Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery. Mr Cowdery supports radical changes to drug laws, including a heroin trial. A group of drug users and supporters also plans to protest outside State Parliament House in Macquarie St as the summit opens at 9am. ``You've got to understand that there are many opinions on every aspect of the drug problem but we are doing our best, without renting the Entertainment Centre, to make it as representative as possible,'' Mr Carr said in defence of the invitation list. The only known drug user who is speaking at the summit, Annie Madden, from the NSW Users and AIDS Association, said she would have liked more users to have been invited, as there would be a limit as to how much she as an individual would be able to contribute. The summit delegates, led by former Victorian premier Joan Kirner and National Party stalwart Ian Sinclair, will debate and vote on recommendations coming from 11 working groups. One of the topics almost certain to be discussed at the forum is safe injecting rooms for drug addicts. An illegal shooting gallery was shut down at the Wayside Chapel in Sydney last Thursday after police raided it and arrested a man. The chapel's Reverend Ray Richmond warned the room would immediately reopen and supporters would consider mass demonstrations if the summit was ``weak or equivocal'' on the issue of safe heroin injecting rooms. - --- MAP posted-by: Patrick Henry