Letter

The reason for Wodak's response lies in the second paragraph of his editorial, where he refers to the lucrative profits from trafficking of illicit drugs. Wodak and the trial's supporters appear to believe that liberal use of free heroin would threaten the profits of drug traffickers, but for that to be so heroin would have to be widely available in the community. Thus, the purpose of the trial was not to determine efficacy, as the authors of the trial, like Wodak, knew the outcome -- the introduction of free heroin throughout Australia.

Christopher J Alroe
Member, Australian Medical Association Queensland Branch Council; and Senior Consultant,
Rockhampton District Mental Health Service, PO Box 4055, Rockhampton, QLD 4700

1. Wodak AD. Public health and politics: the demise of the ACT heroin trial [editorial]. Med J Aust 1997; 167: 348-349.

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