COUGH MEDICINE TESTED ON ADDICTS

Legal Drug As Effective As Heroin, Study Finds

VANCOUVER - A commonly prescribed drug used in cough medicine is more
effective than methadone -- and as effective as heroin itself--at
stabilizing the lives of heroin addicts and reducing their use of
street drugs, a new study says.

Since March, 2007, the North American Opiate Medication Initiative
(NAOMI) has been prescribing 115 addicts in both Vancouver and
Montreal with medical-grade heroin to see whether they would fare any
better than a control group of 111 on methadone.

The results, released yesterday, concluded addicts on heroin stuck
with treatment longer and had more success than the methadone group --
no surprise, since similar studies in Europe found the same thing.

What was surprising, however, is that a smaller group of 25 addicts
given Dilaudid -- a legal drug used as a painkiller and cough
suppressant --fared just as well as those on heroin.

It was such a convincing substitute that all but one of those on
Dilaudid told researchers they thought they were on heroin.

While giving addicts free heroin would require approval from Ottawa--a
hard sell with a Conservative government already opposed to supervised
injection sites -- Dilaudid is simply an off-label use of a legal drug.

"To be perfectly frank, there is a stigma attached to heroin," said
Dr. Martin Schechter, principal investigator for the NAOMI project.
"That would make [Dilaudid] particularly attractive in places where
the concept of using heroin would be untenable as a public policy."

Dr. Schechter said B. C. doctors would have to get approval from the
College of Physicians and Surgeons to use Dilaudid to treat addiction.
Health authorities would also have to pay for clinics to dispense it.
But in comparison to prescription heroin, he said, the regulatory
hurdles are tiny.

Researchers are already in talks with the Vancouver Coastal Health
Authority about converting NAOMI's research site into a permanent
drug-treatment clinic offering both methadone and Dilaudid.

Dr. Schechter said the clinic could treat about 200 addicts at an
annual cost of about $1.5-million. And while that is not cheap, Dr.
Schechter said the $7,500 per addict is a bargain compared with the
estimated $50,000 an untreated addict costs the health care and
criminal-justice systems.

The NAOMI study found significant improvements in the lives of those
on methadone, heroin and Dilaudid. Those in treatment spent less money
on street drugs, committed fewer crimes to feed their habit and saw
improvements in their health.

On average, methadone users reduced their spending on street drugs
from $1,500 to $500 a month. Those on heroin or Dilaudid spent only
$350 a month on street drugs.