Another Wise Man
I have spoken a number of times in this radio program and in other media, as well as in Parliament, of the manifest failure of the State Government funded heroin injecting room, run by the Uniting Church in Kings Cross. Listeners can check out on my detailed evidence as recorded in Hansard on the NSW Parliament web-site.
I was pleased this past week, when the Hon. DAVID CLARKE, Opposition Legislative Council member said:
“A great scourge of our time is the harm and destruction created by the use of illegal drugs of addiction. It causes harm and destruction to individuals, it unleashes misery on families and family life, it degrades and debases the nation as a whole, and, most sadly, it degrades and destroys the lives of those who are the future of Australia by killing many of our nation’s youth. It symbolises evil in all its corrosiveness and darkness.Approaches on how to deal with the problem vary as to method and desired outcome. Some advocate what is known as the harm minimisation approach. This approach forms the operating basis of the Kings Cross injecting room-or the “shooting gallery”, as it is more correctly known-which operates as a magnet to addicts and is an open invitation for them to continue with business as usual.”
The Hon David Clarke, a very wise man, continued,
“The Kings Cross injecting room is a failure and the approach upon which it is based is a failure. It exacerbates the problem and has become part of the problem. It is a waste of public money and I wish this Parliament would close it down.However, there is another approach-a very different approach-that is based on harm prevention. This approach is based on no compromise with the culture of drugs. This approach says that we need to get addicts 100 per cent free of harmful drugs of addiction and that we do not achieve that aim by providing drugs to drug addicts.
The harm prevention approach is being pursued with great success by a number of programs and organisations in our community-and the Kings Cross injecting room is certainly not one of them.”
The Hon David Clarke went on to pay tribute to Teen Challenge for their great success reclaiming young people from drug addiction. Like Wesley Mission’s live in drug rehabilitation programs, Teen Challenge maintains a competent, dedicated and Christian-inspired staff. The addict receives the support and infrastructure needed to lift young people from the cycle of addiction. Its policy is: No compromise with drugs. This policy is a pathway to the permanent rehabilitation of addicts. The Government and the Uniting Church are wrong in persisting with the failed heroin injecting room that simply keeps addicts in their bondage.
THIS IS GORDON MOYES.