CONTROVERSIAL DRUG TRIAL BEGINS IN VANCOUVER

Heroin paid for by Canadian taxpayers was given to addicts Monday and
promptly injected.

The three Vancouver users have become the first in North America to be
given free prescription heroin as part of a controversial drug trial.

The North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or NAOMI, plans to recruit
157 people for the two-year study.

Participants will be split into two groups -- one receiving heroin, the
other methadone -- to find out if heroin is better for addicts who have
failed at methadone or abstinence.

Heroin addicts will attend NAOMI's heavily-secured clinic in Vancouver's
Downtown Eastside three times a day. They are given their fix and shoot it
in a safe-injection room under supervision.

Participants get free drugs and medical care and can make $150 over the
trial by filling out a half-dozen questionnaires.