experts say make heroin available on the NHS the AA grumpy column
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 12:22 pm
hello lord grumpy reporting in from grumpy mansion.
when i read this news story i could believe it .
is it me or have the do gooders gone mad ??
Drug experts are calling for a nationwide network of shooting galleries where heroin addicts can go to inject themselves safely.
Experts deny free heroin will mean 'shooting galleries' on our streets
An independent expert group has recommended the government expand an existing heroin pilot study.
It follows four years of trials in Brighton, Darlington and London where many areas showed a reduction in crime and a fall in the street sale of heroin.
Proponents of medical prescription of heroin say helping addicts get fixes improves their health and deprives street dealers and violent criminal gangs of funding.
They argue it removes the glamour from a lifestyle of drug abuse, instead treating addiction as a medical problem that needs treatment.
Countries such as Switzerland, Holland and Germany have already prescribed the drug with positive results.
But critics say the taxpayer should not be asked to pay for heroin when cash cannot be found for drugs to treat illnesses such as Alzheimers.
A conference organised by Action on Addiction and the National Addiction Centre is to report on the findings of the UK study.
Paul Hayes, chief executive of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) said the programme was controlled and held under strict clinical conditions.
"Drug treatment is very effective, and cost effective, for the vast majority of heroin addicts," he said.
"However, there are some whose problems are so entrenched that the government committed in the Drug Strategy to explore pilots of injectable heroin in controlled, clinical settings.
"The interim results of the pilot studies seem encouraging, and we share the government's commitment to develop new and innovative ways to tackle drug addiction."
Mr Hayes explained that heroin has been prescribed to addicts for decades.
He said: "Heroin has been available on prescription since the 1920s to a very limited number of addicts.
"These pilots are simply to explore whether controlled prescribing of injectable heroin will be effective in overcoming their problems, minimizing the harm to the public, reducing crime, and cost effective for the taxpayer.
"In particular the pilots need to identify how many individuals might benefit from this treatment, but at most we are talking about a very small proportion of the 160,000 heroin addicts in treatment."
The National Treatment Agency For Substance Misuse - NTA - Denies Drug And Heroin Shooting Galleries | UK News | Sky News
AAG
this a totally outrageous suggestion and one road this loony labour government should not go down.
not so many years ago if you were found in possesion of a class A drug like heroin
your next stop was usually between 6 and 18 months in jail.
now they want to hand it out free gratis on the NHS which is understaffed and underfunded .
why should these druggie parasites get preferental treatment where some one has to wait up to 12 months for a simple operation on the NHS or wards close
or there just arent simply enough beds cots sheets or blankets to go round.
yet these druggie scum who sponge benefits and dont do a days work can just wander in to a hospital or clinic for their daily heroin fix .
give em a bad batch and kill the lot of them off theyre no use to society anyway.
and while im on the subject are the experts who suggested this plan on it too ????
when i read this news story i could believe it .
is it me or have the do gooders gone mad ??
Drug experts are calling for a nationwide network of shooting galleries where heroin addicts can go to inject themselves safely.
Experts deny free heroin will mean 'shooting galleries' on our streets
An independent expert group has recommended the government expand an existing heroin pilot study.
It follows four years of trials in Brighton, Darlington and London where many areas showed a reduction in crime and a fall in the street sale of heroin.
Proponents of medical prescription of heroin say helping addicts get fixes improves their health and deprives street dealers and violent criminal gangs of funding.
They argue it removes the glamour from a lifestyle of drug abuse, instead treating addiction as a medical problem that needs treatment.
Countries such as Switzerland, Holland and Germany have already prescribed the drug with positive results.
But critics say the taxpayer should not be asked to pay for heroin when cash cannot be found for drugs to treat illnesses such as Alzheimers.
A conference organised by Action on Addiction and the National Addiction Centre is to report on the findings of the UK study.
Paul Hayes, chief executive of the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) said the programme was controlled and held under strict clinical conditions.
"Drug treatment is very effective, and cost effective, for the vast majority of heroin addicts," he said.
"However, there are some whose problems are so entrenched that the government committed in the Drug Strategy to explore pilots of injectable heroin in controlled, clinical settings.
"The interim results of the pilot studies seem encouraging, and we share the government's commitment to develop new and innovative ways to tackle drug addiction."
Mr Hayes explained that heroin has been prescribed to addicts for decades.
He said: "Heroin has been available on prescription since the 1920s to a very limited number of addicts.
"These pilots are simply to explore whether controlled prescribing of injectable heroin will be effective in overcoming their problems, minimizing the harm to the public, reducing crime, and cost effective for the taxpayer.
"In particular the pilots need to identify how many individuals might benefit from this treatment, but at most we are talking about a very small proportion of the 160,000 heroin addicts in treatment."
The National Treatment Agency For Substance Misuse - NTA - Denies Drug And Heroin Shooting Galleries | UK News | Sky News
AAG
this a totally outrageous suggestion and one road this loony labour government should not go down.
not so many years ago if you were found in possesion of a class A drug like heroin
your next stop was usually between 6 and 18 months in jail.
now they want to hand it out free gratis on the NHS which is understaffed and underfunded .
why should these druggie parasites get preferental treatment where some one has to wait up to 12 months for a simple operation on the NHS or wards close
or there just arent simply enough beds cots sheets or blankets to go round.
yet these druggie scum who sponge benefits and dont do a days work can just wander in to a hospital or clinic for their daily heroin fix .
give em a bad batch and kill the lot of them off theyre no use to society anyway.
and while im on the subject are the experts who suggested this plan on it too ????