Pubdate: Tue, 16 Aug 2005
Source: Scotsman (UK)
Copyright: The Scotsman Publications Ltd 2005
Contact:  http://www.scotsman.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/406
Author: Ian Swanson, Scottish Political Editor
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)

EDINBURGH'S UKP2M HEROIN CRISIS

A GROWING heroin crisis in the Capital has led health chiefs to spend 
almost UKP2 million after a massive increase in methadone prescriptions.

The rising cost of the fight against addiction to the drug today prompted 
fears about money being wasted as addicts are left to "swim in a sea of 
methadone".

The number of people in Lothian being prescribed methadone has increased by 
more than 40 per cent in two years. Official statistics show the number of 
addicts being prescribed the drug rose from 2191 in 2002 to 3104 last year.

That amounts to a 42 per cent increase, compared to a rise of 17 per cent 
across Scotland as a whole.

The estimated cost of prescribing methadone in the Lothians is almost UKP2 
million, with the bill for the entire country reaching UKP11.6m.

The rising bill comes amid fears about growing heroin use in the Capital. 
There has been a massive rise in seizures of Class A drugs such as heroin 
and cocaine in Lothian in the last couple of years.

Last year police and drug workers warned Edinburgh was on the verge of the 
worst heroin epidemic for almost 20 years. In March this year, UKP500,000 
worth of heroin was recovered at Waverley Station in the biggest seizure of 
its kind in the Capital.

The Tories today claimed the rising methadone bill illustrated the full 
extent of the drugs crisis hitting the Capital and showed the city, along 
with much of the rest of Scotland, was swimming in a "sea of methadone".

But Lothian health bosses said the figures reflected an increase in the 
number of people accessing their services.

Leading Conservative MSP Bill Aitken said: "As a country, we are consigning 
more and more addicts to swim in a sea of methadone dependency - a 
publicly-funded drug addiction programme.

"Every pound spent on this so-called harm-reduction route is a pound not 
spent on rehabilitation and the real fight against drugs."

Mr Aitken called for a zero tolerance approach to drugs, the reclassifying 
cannabis to class B and early intervention to prevent the problem in the 
first place.

He added: "Think how much we could achieve with the AUKP12m being spent on 
giving legal drugs to junkies, money that could be far better spent getting 
them off drugs altogether."

Mike Winter, associate medical director of Lothian Primary Care Division, 
said: "Treatment for heroin addicts often includes a methadone 
prescription, so the increase reflects the fact more people are accessing 
our services."

Alistair Ramsay of Scotland Against Drugs said any rise in methadone use 
had to be a matter of concern, but added it was the only option to combat a 
"chaotic, criminal, drug-taking lifestyle".

Tom Wood, chairman of Edinburgh Drug and Alcohol Action Team, said 
methadone was an issue the team was looking at but added it was important 
to recognise the good it had done in providing a stable life for addicts.

He said: "Before we start throwing stones at methadone, we have to find an 
alternative."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom