There should be a common sense resolution to the issue of heroin injecting rooms which minimises harm to heroin users but also protects the public from crime. What we need is an enlightened but responsible response.

1) Why support injecting rooms?

Heroin injecting rooms:

• will prevent overdoses and help minimise harm;
• reduce pressure on ambulance and paramedic services that will free them up to attend other calls;
• reduce the number of used syringes that are left in public places;
• enable heroin users to be in contact with health services and to promote programs to help end heroin dependency

2) With rights comes responsibility

The use of, or withdrawal from, heroin is not an excuse for committing violent or property crime. Heroin does not stop you knowing right from wrong and you maintain responsibility for your behaviour.

We should not spend valuable police resources on those people who merely take heroin and don’t hurt others. We should offer these poor souls help to end what is a terrible existence.

We should however, protect the community from those who do the wrong thing and commit crime. Heroin users who commit violent crime or serious property crime should be held accountable and not be given a free pass.

The debate has been hijacked by those who only see one side of the issue. On the one hand there are many who want to take a “tough on drugs” stance. On the other side are those who refuse to hold accountable the minority of heroin users who commit crime; they wrongly excuse crime on the users “disease”.

If a heroin user steals a car or assaults someone, they should be properly identified as a criminal. If their crime is treated as a “disease” then the public is understandably going to want to take a “tough on drugs” stance against all people who take heroin.

Dependency on heroin can be thought of as a disease and we should show compassion and help those afflicted. But crime against others is not a disease. Criminals should be held accountable before the law.

For those interested in more information on the science behind:

• the basis for holding heroin users accountable for their behaviour;
• the reason why the vast majority of the population would not become addicted to heroin even if laws were relaxed

About Dr Michael Keane

Dr Michael Keane is a consultant anaesthetist and bioethicist. He is also a National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) funded researcher into illicit drugs.

He holds the following positions:

Lecturer in public health at Monash University

Researcher at Swinburne University’s Brain Sciences Institute

Researcher at the University of Adelaide

Sukrit Sabhlok is looking to organise an Austro-Libertarian Reading Group in Melbourne. Most likely we will meet at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. Please contact me if you are interested or leave a comment.

Matt Ridley discusses rational optimism, human progress, “idea sex”, and that the keys to prosperity is a bottom-up, spontaneous social order:

I just registered for the 27 JULY 2010 – 11 am (AEST) webinar on Expanding into the US: Funding Your Business: Options and Opportunities, run by the passionate and super-productive Vikki Forrest, CEO of ANZA Technology Networks. About the webinar:

When Australian companies consider the US market they automatically think venture capital – and why not? There are 1000’s of VCs in America. Yet, less than one percent of companies – Australian or otherwise – meet the mark for VC investment. For the rest, other options and opportunities need to be pursued.

This webinar will feature experts in angel investing, bootstrapping, grants and combinations of funding sources that will get you thinking “outside the VC box” and into a can-do mode for serious US market exploration.

Other webinar events from the series:

13 JULY 2010 – 11 am (AEST) – Expanding Your Business to the US: Myths and Realities. You’ve got a great innovation and know it will play well in the US market, or your success in the Australian market has reached its apex. Now what? Why not pack the suitcases and spend 6 weeks visiting the major US tech hubs? You’ve heard Americans are friendly and love a good investment opportunity. So, now that you’re here, why won’t they take your calls?

This webinar will feature an Australian entrepreneur with a patent-pending technology who will share his experiences about living and working in the US and an American “Networker-in-Chief” who will discuss the intricacies involved in networking “American-style”. Hosted by ANZA CEO Viki Forrest, who has worked with 100’s of Australian companies exploring the US market and who will share her own experiences of coming to the US with an Australian startup and how she built a formidable US network.

21 JULY 2010 – 11 am (AEST) - Sizing Up the US Market: Facts and Fears. Fact: The US market is 15 times the size of Australia’s – and growing. Fear: It’s too big of a risk trying to scale a market of this size and you could lose everything you’ve worked for. The US and Australia are two entirely different markets – not only in size, but in depth and scope. What works in Australia does not always work in the US just by ramping up the team, the technology and the dollars.

This webinar will feature a VC with keen insight into investing in Australian companies in the US market and an Australian CEO who launched a successful US-based business who will share their fact and fear lists with you. Moderated by ANZA CEO Viki Forrest who has worked with 100’s of Australian companies scaling the US market and seeking US funding.