Dear editor, There is a middle ground between drug prohibition and blanket legalization. Switzerland's heroin maintenance program has been shown to reduce disease, death and crime among chronic users. Providing addicts with standardized doses in a clinical setting eliminates many of the problems associated with illicit heroin use. The success of the Swiss program has inspired heroin maintenance pilot projects in Canada, Germany, Spain, Denmark and the Netherlands. If expanded, prescription heroin maintenance would deprive organized crime of a core client base. This would render illegal heroin trafficking unprofitable and spare future generations addiction. [continues 91 words]
A study published Monday contends medically prescribed heroin is more cost-effective than methadone for treating long-term heroin users. The people given the medically prescribed heroin in the form of diacetylmorphine were also likely to live longer than those on methadone maintenance. They stayed in treatment longer and spent less time in relapse than methadone users. Those results are associated with less criminal activity and lower health-care costs. An average lifetime societal cost of $1.14 million was predicted for people in the methadone study group. But those in the diacetylmorphine group were projected to cost $1.09 million over their lifetimes. [continues 165 words]
Addicts given the traditional maintenance drug were more likely to relapse and for longer, and cost the health, justice systems more Using heroin to treat relapsed heroin users is more cost-effective than traditional methadone maintenance, according to a new study based on North America's only clinical trial of medically prescribed heroin. A mathematical analysis using data from the North American Opiate Medication Initiative ( NAOMI) found that addicts prescribed heroin were less likely to relapse than those taking methadone and spent less time in relapse, which reduced their lifetime costs for health care and criminal justice and extended their lives. [continues 588 words]
Treatment More Economical, Users Likely to Live Longer, Research Shows VANCOUVER - A study published Monday contends medically prescribed heroin is more cost effective than methadone for treating long-term street heroin users. The people given the medically prescribed heroin in the form of diacetylmorphine were also likely to live longer than those on methadone maintenance, according to the study by researchers at Providence Health Care and the University of B.C. Addicts stayed in treatment longer and spent less time in relapse than methadone users. Those results are associated with less criminal activity and lower health-care costs. [continues 306 words]
