ADDICTS: NO HOPE ONCE THEY'RE DEAD

I NOTE with approval your unsensational report of Dr Gabriele Bammer's
research on naltrexone and buprenorphine as "cures" for heroin
addiction. Admittedly her sample is small, but the limited success of
naltrexone in this area simply re-emphasises the need for variety in
treatment, all the way from Brian Watters's abstinence programs and the
use of naltrexone right through to the limited heroin trial first
proposed by Dr Bammer some years ago now. As Dr Bammer says, "Part of
the problem is people want magic solutions, and there are no magic
solutions". People with an overwhelming sense of mental neatness, such
as Messrs Osborne and Rugendyke, might like to consider whether they
really prefer users to die from heroin of unknown purity or whether
continued (but not necessarily indefinite) addiction to regulated
heroin supplied at cost by the government might not be a better interim
solution for all concerned. It is really quite hard to rehabilitate the
dead.