Clover Moore has released a statment demanding the NSW government lift the "trial" status of the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC). As long as the centre is on a trial it can be shut down at a moment's notice on the whim of a politician.

Clover Moore's statement is as follows:

Time to Lift MSIC Trial Status

After 10 years of successful "trial" operation, I have asked the NSW Premier to provide the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) with certainty so that this vital health service can do its job properly.

I moved the motion to establish the Centre at the 1999 Drug Summit to set up the Centre, after hearing from drug experts, drug users and their families about the tragic impacts of drugs on people's lives.

Independent evaluations have repeatedly shown that the Centre:

  saves lives by preventing and responding immediately to overdoses;

  prevents blood-borne infections including HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C;

  removes injecting from the streets, improving safety and local amenity;

  provides a gateway into treatment for alienated street-based injecting drug users; and

  significantly reduces ambulance callouts and hospital emergency department visits.

Reporting this week on the tragic death of an injecting drug user in Kings Cross, Coroner Malcolm MacPherson stated that, "the evidence heard during this inquest is a powerful argument in favour of the MSIC being given permanency".

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research report on Kings Cross crime showed no evidence that the Centre has caused crime, putting paid to the scurrilous claims that the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre is a "honey pot" for drug use and crime. Funding for the MSIC is provided from the confiscated proceeds of crime.

The MSIC sends a message of tolerance and compassion, showing that the community wants to help keep young people alive long enough for them to be able to come off drugs. Inner-city residents support progressive solutions to complex and tough inner city social issues.

Independent surveys have shown widespread and growing local business and community support for the Centre, and I will be working with the NSW Government to lift the trial status of this vital health service.

More onfo on the MSIC can be found at: www.sydneymsic.com/Bginfo.htm