PRESCRIPTION HEROIN MIGHT HELP ADDICTS

For a fourth-year nursing school assignment, I researched the use of
prescription heroin in the treatment and harm reduction of heroin addiction.

As of yet, methadone is still the only prescription treatment
available in Canada for the treatment of heroin addiction.

Research has repeatedly proven that methadone has a high success rate
in the treatment of heroin addiction.

Although there are few side effects with methadone, it is generally
well-tolerated and often the treatment of choice for those looking to
become addiction-free.

But methadone treatment is not for everyone. Research has shown highly
addicted individuals do not find methadone helpful in the treatment of
their addiction.

A study performed in the Netherlands showed a 51-per-cent success rate
when prescription heroin and methadone were used together in treatment
versus methadone alone, which only had a 28.4-per-cent success rate.
Those that had undergone treatment with methadone before, but had
relapsed, did far better on heroin-assisted treatment with a
61-per-cent success rate than on methadone alone, which had a
24-per-cent success rate.

Individuals who had never undergone treatment before did nearly
equally well with a combination of prescription heroin and methadone
and methadone treatment alone with 39-per-cent and 38-per-cent success
rates, respectively.

For prescription heroin treatment, just like any other medical
treatment, some people are better candidates than others due to their
past treatment history and severity of addiction.

Prescription heroin may be a suitable treatment for many, but is not
for those who have mild dependencies, a short drug use history or have
little to no treatment history.

As heroin treatment is more expensive than methadone treatment, it
should be offered only to those who have not or will not find standard
treatment successful.

Treatment involving a combination of both or methadone alone needs to
be performed under medical supervision, with adequate nursing,
medical, social and psychological support.

I would like to clarify that, by allowing prescription heroin to be
available for treatment of addiction, heroin would not be available to
the general public.

Strict enforcement of illegitimate drug trafficking, as outlined in
the Four Pillars Drug Strategy, would still need to take place.

Well-thought-out processes must be employed to ensure this treatment
is not misused and/or abused.

But it is time we looked at alternative treatments and truly
considered the potential of prescription heroin as a harm-reduction
strategy.