NSW: Heroin injecting room to be extended by one year = 2

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NSW: Heroin injecting room to be extended by one year = 2

"It is my view that 200 overdoses have occurred in the facility, not one of them hasresulted in a death," Mr Della Bosca said.

"It is also true that more than 400 people have been referred to treatment - we aretalking about those people who are at the bottom end of the addiction cycle, people inthe most desperate situations.

"There has not been any adverse comment that the government has been concerned withfrom the community in recent times, and we are of the view there will be widespread acceptanceof the extension of the life of the trial."

The centre can handle up to 200 injecting episodes a day in two four-hour sessions.

Sixteen people can use the facility at any one time.

According to government figures, more than 2,600 users have registered to use the centre,making about 30,000 visits since it opened.

Of the 200 overdoses, more than 70 per cent - 157 - were heroin-related.

Overdose deaths and ambulance call-outs to non-fatal overdoses in the Kings Cross andnearby Darlinghurst area have continued to fall since the centre opened.

The injecting room has so far cost NSW taxpayers $5.6 million in operational costs,which includes $1.3 million in "indirect costs" of insurance, evaluation and treatment.

Mr Della Bosca said a further $2.5 million for the extension of the trial would betaken from the Confiscated Proceeds of Crime Account.

He said the government was committed to the one trial and had no plans to set up centresin other suburbs.

The operating times of 6pm to 10pm would also not be changed, he said.

The centre, a nondescript room in the heart of Sydney's red-light district, was setup following the May 1999 Drug Summit.

The UN criticised the centre for sending the wrong message, with the powerful InternationalNarcotics Control Board (INCB) warning it would be closely monitoring the operation.

A legal challenge to halt its opening was unsuccessfully mounted by the local chamberof commerce.

AAP ls/arb/las/sb

KEYWORD: HEROIN 2 SYDNEY