OTTAWA GREEN-LIGHTS FREE HEROIN PROGRAM

Ottawa has given conditional approval to the dispensing of free heroin to
drug addicts in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

The North American Opiate Medication Initiative will be recruiting 158
local drug-users for the 21-month pilot project, set to begin by the end of
the year. Health Canada said it wants adequate security measures in place
for staff and drug users before full permission is granted.

NAOMI spokesman Jim Boothroyd said yesterday that a clinic to be used for
the project at Hastings and Abbott streets will have "extraordinarily high
levels of security."

The project will include the delivery of heroin to the clinic by armed truck.

In the study, 88 people will receive prescribed heroin; another 70 will get
methadone. NAOMI is "exploring whether heroin-maintenance therapy provides
a viable option for chronic heroin users who have failed all other
treatments," Boothroyd said.

It will be the first North American study of its kind, and has the blessing
of the federal government, Vancouver Mayor Larry Campbell and Vancouver police.

Candidates must be over 25, be a heroin addict for more than five years and
have previously taken methadone treatment. Those with criminal charges, on
probation or with severe mental illness will be excluded.