Dr Kerryn Phelps AMA President, Radio National, with Vivian Schenker And Cathy Van Extel

Three months out from an election, neither side of the game is keen to engage in a vigorous debate on ways to crack down on the drug trade. Especially the possibility of providing drugs from a government repository to addicts, as a means of thwarting crime bosses.

The Prime Minister has been strident in his rejection of a heroin trial, while the Opposition's given a luke warm response - saying it'll be open to suggestions from any state. On the other hand, drug reform and medical groups have urged politicians to be more open minded. Seizing on the comments by the nation's top crime fighting body, that the current approach isn't working.

The Australian Medical Association, not known for its radical views, is amongst those advocating a rethink.

Cathy Van Extel is on top of this in Canberra and she's joined now by the President of the AMA, Kerryn Phelps.

Cathy, good morning on this Friday.

VAN EXTEL: Good morning to you Vivian and good morning Kerryn Phelps - 'This is your Life'.

PHELPS: Good morning.

VAN EXTEL: Now you've picked up on the NCA's comments, yet the Australian Federal Police is arguing exactly the opposite. What should the community think, given we have these conflicting opinions from the two top crime fighting bodies of the nation?

PHELPS: Well I think it's difficult for some groups like the Australian Federal Police to change their whole paradigm of thinking when their lives have been really revolving around trying to stop the trade and stop the use of heroin. And while that is obviously the ultimate objective, we also have another objective and that is, where you can't stop people getting hold of heroin and using it. Then we have to find some other ways of helping to control the collateral damage caused by heroin.

And that is the damage caused by the fact that it is an illegal drug. Controlled by organised crime and that there are very severe criminal justice implications for people who, basically have, what turns out to be a medical problem.

And the AMA since 1999 has been calling for trials of prescribed heroin, to be able to catch some of these people and help them to give up the parts of the heroin problem that gets them into problems with the law.

VAN EXTEL: But the concern that is being raised by the AFP Commissioner is that, drug bosses would simply find, in his words 'sexier kinds of heroin' to create a new market, if the government went down that line.

PHELPS: I don't think that that's a genuine argument. When you're talking to people with a serious addiction who want not to have the problem, and they're looking for solutions. They're not going, they're looking for solutions like methadone management, rehabilitation programs, trying to get off it with rapid detox and so forth. I mean there's a tremendous demand for help.

And one of the ways that people can be helped, if they cannot get off the heroin and they're still looking for illegal sources, is to have a trial to see whether prescribed heroin - which has been produced in a sanitised way, appropriately by pharmaceutical companies and very tightly controlled and medically monitored - might be a way to help these people to eventually control their habit.

VAN EXTEL: Even if you take those people out of the system though, wouldn't it necessarily mean then that, those drug bosses would look for new markets? Would look to attract new users?

PHELPS: I think the issue is, that we're looking to reduce demand. I mean the organised crime figures of course are always going to be looking for something to sell and people to sell it to. But if you have reduced demand then, then I believe that that is really the area that we haven't been adequately addressing. We've been putting a lot of resources in the community, tremendous resources into law enforcement and having some success too, particularly in the last year.

But the area that we haven't really had great deal of concentration on, is the area of rehabilitation and education and reducing the demand for heroin.

VAN EXTEL: The National Crime Authority in its suggestion, talked about providing addictive drugs to addicts. Obviously going beyond just heroin. Should the community look at the provision of other drugs to addict?

PHELPS: I think we need to look at creative and courageous ways of dealing with the drug problem in the community. I don't think anyone disputes the fact that there are major problems that we're not being able to address because of the way that we're currently dealing with drug problem.

And I think when we look at the terminology 'prescribed heroin trial' we need to look at the word trial rather than heroin. And say that, we shouldn't be afraid of looking at an option that might just work for some people. We need to find out who this might work for and whether it is going to be an effective treatment for some people.

Now I don't think anybody suggests that it's going to be a great big free for all and anyone who wants to experiment with heroin can just rock up and get a prescription. That's not what anyone's talking about at all. What they're saying is, that people who have a serious problem with addiction to this drug, we need to have a range of options - and this is one option - that just might work.

VAN EXTEL: Dr Phelps just briefly on another issue. The standard of care in nursing homes is back in focus today. There's further disturbing reports coming out of a Melbourne nursing home about the treatment of residents. Is the government mishandling this issue?

PHELPS: There's no question that this issue is being seriously mishandled. We have a major problem with under-funding in aged care. But also one of the issues that I brought up in my National Press Club Address is that we need to put the humanity back into aged care and not be thinking about aged care as a group of statistics and a problem to be dealt with. But as people who are living out the life - months and years of their lives, and families who are quite often very distressed and very distraught because the options available to them - are really not particularly attractive. And in some cases, non existent.

And the letters that I've had since that Address that I gave, some of them have been just heart wrenching and I think you really need to get a grip on this whole situation.

The AMA's called for a National Aged Care Summit, which we will be holding in October of this year. To get together all of the major players in aged care and see if we can come up with some solutions, that have compassion and that enables a dignity of elderly people, in their final years.

VAN EXTEL: Dr Phelps thank you.

PHELPS: Thank you.

SCHENKER: Dr Kerryn Phelps, the Head of the AMA speaking with Cathy Van Extel in Canberra.

ENDS