METHADONE SUBSTITUTE UNAVAILABLE

A highly regarded method for getting junkies off heroin is hardly
being used in Canada, despite being approved by the federal government
two years ago.

Buprenorphine -- known by the brand name Subutex -- was given the
green light by Health Canada in 2005, but its manufacturer,
British-based Reckitt Benckiser, has not put it on the Canadian market.

It's only available if a doctor applies to the feds for special
access.

That frustrates Marliss Howard, program director of Streetworks, which
runs Edmonton's needle exchange program.

"Absolutely, we need to consider it and try it," she said. "The more
options people have, the better."

Buprenorphine, or "bupe," is prescribed by a doctor, just like
methadone, to addicts trying to get off heroin.

But unlike methadone, which gets users just as high as heroin, it
gives a much milder "buzz" while still eliminating cravings.

And if you try to get higher by using heroin as well, it actually
induces withdrawal symptoms.

"(Methadone) is still an addiction. But a legal addiction," said Judy,
a recovering addict.

Judy started methadone treatment in Edmonton in 1999, after using
heroin for "years and years," and though it helped her get clean, she
said she didn't care for it.

"People get a buzz off of it," she said.

University of Alberta pharmacologist Dr. David Cook, an addiction
expert, said that ideally, methadone and bupe would be available to
addicts trying to get off heroin.

A spokesman for Reckitt Benckiser could not be reached.