Pubdate: Thu, 03 Feb 2005 Source: Guardian, The (UK) Copyright: 2005 Guardian Newspapers Limited Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175 Author: Debbie Andalo Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) ANGER OVER 'HARMLESS HEROIN' STUDY A new study claiming that heroin can be taken without damaging health or job prospects has been condemned by drug addiction groups. Researchers said the study proved that some users of the class A drug can find work, hold down a job and achieve educational qualifications which compare to non-drug users. The study was based on 126 long-term heroin users who were not in treatment recruited in Glasgow over a four-year period. All had used opiates at least 10 times in the past two years, and had been using heroin for seven years. Of those users, the majority were married, 74% were employed and 64% had gone into higher or further education. Only 5% had no educational qualifications and 15% were unemployed. David Shewan from Glasgow Caledonian University, who carried out the research with colleague Phil Dalgarno, said the findings exposed a hidden population of drug users who have previously been ignored. He said: "The important thing about the study is that it shows while there are heroin users with problems, there are also heroin users without problems. "These people are mostly ordinary people - they are not the Keith Richards of the world - and there could be an element of good fortune in the group studied. "The concept of controlled drug use is still a largely unexplored area of drug research and these results should be treated with caution, as heroin is certainly not a safe drug. "Drug research should incorporate this previously hidden population to more fully inform theory and practice, and psychological and social factors have to be taken into account when looking at how to deal with any form of addiction." The research was condemned by drug addiction organisations. Alistair Ramsay of Scotland Against Drugs warned that the findings could portray the wrong message. He said: "Anyone reading this who thinks they can take heroin safely would be wrong. In Scotland, we have 55,800 heroin users who are clearly unable to function as normal so it cannot be assumed that the findings have universal application." A spokeswoman from the Scottish Drugs Forum said: "The majority of heavy heroin users go on to develop major problems. However, there will be a small group of people who are able to use heroin in a controlled fashion and live a fairly normal life. "How it affects the user depends on environment, background and psychology." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake