Bid to block plans for detox units
SMH Wednesday, May 9, 2001
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0105/09/national/national8.html

Fairfield Council is trying to ban drug treatment centres from business and residential areas ahead of the establishment of 500 new treatment places under the Premier's Cabramatta drugs package.

The move is opposed by the Health Department, and the council fears State Government intervention, including the possible overriding of its plans by the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning.

The Labor-dominated council is finalising a local environment plan which limits drug facilities to industrial areas and Fairfield Hospital. Local Labor MPs Mr Joe Tripodi and Ms Reba Meagher are understood to be supporting the council.

The disagreement about the location of the centres, which will include detoxification units and methadone programs, follows a recent court decision to allow the trial of a heroin injecting room in the heart of Kings Cross against opposition from local businesses.

But in a response to the council's local environment plan, the director-general of NSW Health, Mr Mick Reid, said treatment services for drug-dependent people needed to be close to their work or homes to be effective, allowing them time to rebuild their lives.

A spokesman for the Minister for Health, Mr Knowles, said the Government supported treatment facilities at Fairfield Hospital, but also wanted to see some centres "spread around" in the community.

The council's move to ban all drug treatment facilities in the business district was partly sparked by the experience with a methadone clinic in Barbara Street in the Fairfield business district. A police report on the clinic had found crime in the area increased when the clinic dispensed methadone to large numbers of addicts, said the former Fairfield commander, Superintendent John Laycock.

The private clinic is seeking leave to appeal to the High Court against the withdrawal of its licence by the Health Department.

Fairfield Unity's Councillor Thang Ngo said the council was unanimous about locating drug facilities away from business and residential areas. But he acknowledged it was important they were accessible by public transport.

By Geesche Jacobsen