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From: [s--c] at [newt.phys.unsw.edu.au] (Simon Cannons)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs.hard,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: ACT Heroin Trial
Date: 26 Oct 1995 16:01:40 GMT
Organization: University of New South Wales
Lines: 49
Message-ID: <46obd4$[d--e] at [mirv.unsw.edu.au]>
References: <[ACB 007829668 DEC 08] at [petermc.demon.co.uk]>
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Xref: newshub.cts.com alt.drugs.hard:3893 talk.politics.drugs:49876

The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) is set to begin a trial
of supplying heroin to 40 addicts. The trial is the result of
a 4 year study by the Australian National University (ANU).
The trial has now had 4 months of public discussion in the ACT.
Now the bad news. It looks like it isn't going ahead. The ACT
is quite progressive when it comes to drug law reform.
Cannabis was decriminalised there several years ago. It isn't
the ACT's 'lawmakers' who are trying to stop it.

The Tasmanian Minister for Justice has taken it upon himself
to write to 88 other politicians around Australia. Including
State and Federal Ministers and Police Commisioners. The New
South Wales Premier Bob Carr (who has indicated he may be
decriminalising cannabis in NSW) and the Victorian Health
Minister have voiced their opposition. Now, all this is happening
in the ACT... why is this Tasmanian guy so upset? Tasmania
is one of the few places on the planet where opium poppies
are grown for the world's legal supply of opiates. The crop
is worth a significant amount to Tasmania.

The reason this Tasmanian guy is so upset is because he is
worried Tasmania will lose the 'right' to grow opium poppies.
Yes, you guessed it folks, The US has suggested it will
upset Tasmania's agricultural industry if the ACT trial goes
ahead. The ACT's trial will have no influence whatsoever
on Tasmania. The SOLE reason the Justice Minister is worried
about this trial is because he knows the US will cause him
all sorts of trouble if it goes ahead. He stated he has had
meetings with DEA people who come by now and then to check up.
He said they were watched very carefully by the DEA.

In the end, the ACT's chief minister was non-committal about
whether she thought it would actually go ahead. An IV drug
users support group leader doubted it would.
After a four year university study and four months of public
discussion it's come to this! A lot of people have been very
keen to see how this trial would go. Now it seems it won't
go ahead.

All the above information was taken from a program entitled
"A Vein Hope". It aired on the ABC - Australia's national
(and government-owned) broadcaster - on Four Corners 
(a current affairs show) on Monday 32nd October. The ABC
generally screens programs of a higher quality and with
less censorship restrictions than commercial stations.

I hope this was of use,

Simon