Peak drug body revises position on injecting centre

BY EMMA KEMP

The Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) has revised its position on the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) in Kings Cross.

In a statement published online in June, the ANCD announced their collective support of the MSIC in Sydney following continued backing from the NSW Government.

‘We must accept that despite our best efforts as a community to prevent the uptake of drug use the reality remains that some people will engage and continue to engage in injecting drug use,” the statement said. “The most humane and compassionate response to this reality is to try and ensure the range of potential harms caused by this activity are reduced ‘ this is noted as being a clear goal of MSIC.”

It comes as the Centre’s director, Dr Ingrid Van Beek, quit in frustration over the NSW Government’s refusal to make it permanent. 

The Centre, originally established in 2001 as an 18-month trial, has been granted a number of extensions by the NSW Government.

Chief Executive Officer of the ANCD Gino Vumbaca, said that even though the NSW Government has announced its support is in the form of a continuation of the trial, there is enough evidence there to show that there is merit and benefit in what happens at the injecting centre in Kings Cross.

‘There is an opportunity there for a room like the injecting centre to be established and operate, and I think that’s reflected in the level of community support we see, and evaluations that show that is upwards of 70 or 80 per cent,’ Mr Vumbaca said.

However he said that the environment at Kings Cross presents a unique set of circumstances, and the Council is not saying the MSIC could be replicated everywhere across the country.

The ANCD was established in 1999 by the Prime Minister as part of the Commonwealth Government’s response to reduce the harm caused by drugs in the community.