A surge of drug-induced, spur-of-the-moment armed robberies targeting small businesses is making the midnight shift one of the most dangerous jobs in Australia, as Adrian McGregor reports THE youth, no attempt at disguise, approaches the shop counter, brandishes a hypodermic syringe filled with sinister-looking red fluid and says: "I'm a heroin addict, I need a hit, give me the money." HIV infection via needle-stick is so fearfully on the public mind that the moment is as life-threatening as if he were armed with a gun. [continues 1890 words]
