Pubdate: Sat, 22 May 1999 Source: Age, The (Australia) Copyright: 1999 David Syme & Co Ltd Contact: http://www.theage.com.au/ Author: David Humphries and Gabrielle Costa with AAP CARR'S LEAP OF FAITH IN DRUGS FIGHT New South Wales could be on the verge of introducing the nation's most liberal drug laws after the personal conversion of the state's Premier, Mr Bob Carr. Mr Carr was a surprise supporter of a proposal at the NSW drugs summit to introduce safe heroin injecting rooms. He said this was the hardest decision he had made at the summit, where his previously hard-line views were changed by speakers such as the police royal commissioner, Justice James Wood. He restated his repugnance of heroin yesterday, but said he now understood that "life is an inherently disappointing experience for most human beings. Some people can't cope with that". He said he accepted the "propensity of human beings to compensate for the mediocrity of existence with drugs". The NSW Government has six weeks to respond to the summit's 168 recommendations. As well as safe injecting rooms, they include removing jail terms for possession of small amounts of cannabis, allowing drug users to shoot up illegally and cautioning young offenders for minor offences. Mr Carr emphasised that his Government was not going soft on drugs. "I will not accept the normalisation of heroin in our society," he said. He said no proposal would be adopted unless it could be shown it would make life easier for families confronting the drug problem. The Prime Minister, Mr John Howard, took a cautious approach to the proposals, pointing out that liberalisation helped turn the Netherlands into the drug capital of Europe. "You have to keep asking yourself, do all of these things encourage addicts to give up and save lives and I'm not convinced that they will," he said. The NSW Opposition Leader, Mrs Kerry Chikarovski, rejected the proposals, saying "they would increase the number of young people using drugs." The Prime Minister's drugs adviser, Mr Brian Watters, described the summit's culmination as the saddest night of his life. But the Reverend Ray Richmond from the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross welcomed the recommendations and said the so-called tolerance room would now not need to be reopened. "I think now NSW is in a position to lead the whole of Australia and I think the whole world is watching," Mr Richmond said. "I am greatly indebted to Bob Carr for this rather dangerous move of having an open-ended drug summit and I think most people are really delighted with the outcomes. The hard work is yet ahead." He said he could think of five communities that would benefit from a safe injecting room, including Kings Cross and Redfern and Nimbin on the state's north coast. The Victorian Premier, Mr Jeff Kennett, said he was aware of the resolution that had been passed at the summit, and felt it was an extension of the advisory council, chaired by Professor DavidPenington, that Mr Kennett had established several years ago. He said he had sent a staff member to the summit and expected a report. There may be discussions between the Victorian and New South Wales Governments, Mr Kennett suggested, but said he would watch to see whether the Carr Government accepted any of the recommendations. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D