DRUG-USER ADVOCATES RELEASE STUDY THEY ALLEGE WAS SUPPRESSED BY TORIES

VANCOUVER -- Several groups advocating for the downtrodden of
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside yesterday released what they claimed
were key findings from a trial project that provided prescription
heroin to addicts. The groups criticized the Conservative government,
claiming the Tories suppressed the release of the results during the
federal election campaign because they might reflect poorly on the government.

But a spokeswoman for the project, known as the North American Opiate
Medication Initiative, said in a brief statement released late
yesterday that the final results are not ready and will not be
released until later this month.

The groups, including the Pivot Legal Society and Vancouver Area
Network of Drug Users, also said that a lead researcher, Martin
Schechter, released the findings earlier this year in Switzerland.

The groups said they had compiled some of the findings from a video
they obtained of Dr. Schechter's presentation.

NAOMI spokeswoman Julie Schneiderman said Dr. Schechter spoke in
Switzerland to a group of addiction experts but did not release the
findings publicly. "They weren't ready because we are working on a
final report," Ms. Schneiderman said.

"Dr. Schechter made a presentation in Switzerland to a closed-door
conference of experts. I have no idea if something was secretly
videotaped. He has not presented any final results."

Ms. Schneiderman said she could not comment on allegations of
suppression from the Prime Minister's Office. "You'll have to speak
to the PMO. The statement clearly says we are working on the results.
It's more than a 100-page report."

In the study that finished at the end of June, 45 per cent of the
participants received heroin, 45 per cent methadone and 10 per cent
hydromorphone, also known as Dilaudid.

The federally funded clinical trial started three years ago with
researchers at UBC and the University of Montreal, eventually
recruiting 256 drug addicts in Vancouver and Montreal who had
previously tried - and failed - to overcome their addictions.

The goal was to see how a regular and safe supply of heroin could
stabilize the lives of addicts, and how such a program could free
people from the shackles of their addiction and leave them better
prepared to seek help.

The advocacy groups said one finding was that of the participants in
Montreal and Vancouver who took part in the project - and were on
heroin, hydromorphone or methadone - all showed an increased ability
to get housing and showed improved health.

They said another finding was that those on heroin or hydromorphone
were twice as likely to stay in treatment compared with those on methadone.

Reduction in crime was greater in the group receiving heroin and
participants reduced the amount of heroin they used per day and the
number of times they used per day, they said.

David Eby of the Pivot Legal Society said he was "concerned that
there are political motives at work on public health issues."

In its brief statement, NAOMI said it wants the information made
public as soon as possible "and are working tirelessly to see that
this happens."

The researchers said they expect to finalize a report and deliver it
to Health Canada next week, and are planning to release the results Oct. 17.

The NAOMI study was funded by an $8.1-million research grant from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research.