Detox Unit Opened During Poll Campaign Is Still Closed
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday May 15, 1999
THE only detoxification unit in the city's south-west will not accept in-patients until July, although it was opened by the Premier, Bob Carr, during the State election campaign in March.
Corella Lodge at Fairfield Hospital is still recruiting specialist staff to run the unit, which will provide drug and alcohol detoxification services and accommodation for up to 20 people at a time.
The South-Western Sydney Area Health Service yesterday defended the delay, saying the purpose-built lodge was providing outpatient detoxification services to about 60 clients, as well as counselling.
But the wait for in-patient services has frustrated community groups and drug and alcohol workers in an area which includes the heroin capital of Cabramatta and where there was a 120 per cent increase in heroin-related deaths between 1992 and 1995.
A local group, Focus on Drugs, which has been campaigning for 11 years for a detoxification centre, questioned why Corella Lodge was opened hastily when it was clearly not ready to begin full operation.
The group's chairman and a Fairfield councillor, Maria Heggie, said there was an "absolutely urgent and real need" for its services - the nearest detox centre was at Parramatta.
The lack of treatment places for heroin addicts in NSW has been identified as a major problem, in new research by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.
Fifteen per cent of a group of 500 heroin users surveyed said they would immediately go into treatment if a place was available in a public program.
The bureau's director, Dr Don Weatherburn, said the finding reflected the situation State-wide where, out of an estimated 100,000 heroin users, only one in seven is in treatment.
"That is significant because we know that when they go into treatment their consumption of heroin drops and, secondly, when they go into treatment the amount of crime [they commit] stops," he said.
Dr Weatherburn said the lack of treatment places was also hindering the effectiveness of law enforcement strategies in tackling the drug problem.
"People have been carrying on as if you have to choose between law enforcement and treatment," he said yesterday.
"Law enforcement has been portrayed as going tough on crime, and treatment as going soft on crime. Both notions are misconceived. The two go hand in hand.
"We have poured a bucket of money into law enforcement but we are not getting the benefits because we haven't poured enough money into treatment.
"We are making life unpleasant for heroin users out there in the market but we are not giving them anywhere to go."
In a joint protocol, the Australian Medical Association and the NSW Law Society have called for funding for rehabilitation and detoxification to be at least doubled from the present $70 million.
The State AMA president, Professor Peter Thursby, said it was much easier to buy drugs than to enter treatment.
The protocol suggested funding for treatment could be taken from alcohol and tobacco tax revenue or by reducing expenditure on law enforcement measures that were not producing benefits.
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald