By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Casey Council will press ahead with an “anti-drug injecting room strategy” – despite doubts that a rooms trial will be legalised by State Parliament.
In a meeting on 19 September, councillors overruled a council report that recommended deferring the strategy.
They also voted to lobby the State Government for more drug and alcohol rehab and mental health services in Casey.
Proponent Cr Susan Serey said she opposed drug-injecting rooms due to the importance of “minimising harm to the community not just the user”.
She said the rooms attracted 85 per cent more crime, without evidence that drug use was reduced.
It was uncertain if a proposed trial of a medically supervised drug-injecting centre in Richmond would be passed through State Parliament, Cr Serey conceded.
The State Government has stated it does not support such a trial.
Cr Wayne Smith, in dissent, said the council was “putting the cart before the horse”. He was also requested by mayor Sam Aziz to withdraw the term “scaremongering”.
The council didn’t have the power to oppose injecting rooms under the planning scheme, if it otherwise met planning requirements, he said.
He said he was “happy to wait” to see if the matter passed parliament first.
Cr Rosalie Crestani referenced what a council report described as a “robust debate” in August between councillors and representatives of Victoria Police, CFA, Neighbourhood Watch and Hampton Park Progress Association.
Cr Crestani said a police representative thought it would be difficult to penalise drug use if police were told to keep away from injecting rooms.
Neighbourhood Watch was supportive of alternatives other than an injecting room, she said.
A council report stated there were opposing views on the findings of research into a medically supervised injecting centre in Kings Cross, Sydney, and its harm-minimisation approach.
But there was unanimous support for more alcohol and drug rehabilitation services, it stated.
