Heroin prescription 'cuts costs'

[D-Notice]

BBC

There are strong reasons to support the practice of prescribing heroin to drug misusers, researchers claim.

A University of Amsterdam team says the treatment is cost-effective, even though it is expensive.

The British Medical Journal study found the cost to health services was offset by savings linked to crime reduction.

Actual BMJ article (PDF version)

Co-prescribed heroin adds value to methadone treatment
Adding heroin to methadone treatment of chronic heroin addicts who had been resistant to treatment is cost effective from a societal perspective. (Methadone) co-prescribed heroin (was found) to be associated with... a mean saving of £8793 per patient per year. The initial higher cost of adding heroin to the treatment was compensated for by lower costs of law enforcement and damage to victims of crime.

So what they're saying is it's better to give a junkie their fix for free, than to leave them in the arms of drug dealers & so they have to resort to robbing your house.

[madrchsod]

1. this also reduces the spread of aids and the

silent killer of my generation, hepatitis c.some countries have an intelligent outlook and possible solutions to the an age old problem.

[RC]

2. Well, Duh!

Finally some common sense here. Jail & prison terms for drug use/abuse has never really made sense to me. It is a chemical dependency, a medical problem and solutions to the 'problem' need to be looked at that way.

[jmowreader]

3. It also cuts down on ODs

I once typeset the course catalog for a pharmacy school. A course on cutting smack wasn't in there.

Because untrained people cut the smack you buy, the strength of the finished product will vary--from "almost no heroin content because Our Great President taught us how to maximize profits by reducing expenses--like heroin to put in the heroin" to "half heroin because my scale broke and I want to be sure you get your money's worth until my new one arrives" to "pure smack because you pissed me off for the last time."

Combine heroin of consistent strength with professional junkies to help you adjust your doses, and ODs can become a thing of the past.