The new move by Health Canada has been provoked by the rise in illicit drug overdoses and a huge spike in those involving fentanyl — a synthetic painkiller and tranquilizer — which is 100 times more potent then heroin.
The increases of opioid abuses in Canada and the USA, makes it clear that opioid abuses & overdoses are soaring all over the continent
— Novus Medical Detox (@NovusMedDetox) August 12, 2014
In April alone, fentanyl killed over 200 people in just three months in the province of British Columbia. This prompted the government to declare a public health emergency.
Canada and US have highest opioid consumption per capita IN THE WORLD. Who "wins" depends on counting Vicodin / Oxycodone #UMInjuryCtr
— P. F. Anderson (@pfanderson) December 1, 2015
Canada's desire to see heroin legally prescribed is not a new initiative, this concept has been used in other countries such as Germany and the Netherlands.
This is huge. @HealthCanada is proposing to allow access to heroin assisted treatment #DrugPolicy #SupportDontPunish https://t.co/VNPx70e7ZO
— Canadian Drug Policy (@CANdrugpolicy) May 13, 2016
LEAP UK is an organization that spends time persuading policy makers and public alike that drug policy reform is not just a move towards a socially just society, but a move that will help solve problems caused by drugs.
"We welcome the sensible move of Canada which follows the established evidence of the success from other countries such as Switzerland," LEAP UK's founder, Neil Woods told Sputnik.
"Drug policy should be about keeping people alive and improving the quality of that life.
"Heroin Assisted Treatment (HAT) does not add to addiction. It is actually the most effective treatment in the world. It was pioneered by an English man called John Marks who prescribed to all of his patients in Widnes for ten years up to 1995. Over that time no patients died, and they all got healthier," Woods added.
These comments were echoed by Edward Fox, from Release — UK's national center of expertise on drugs and drug laws, providing free legal advice to people who use drugs.
The organization also works with MPs and campaigns for an evidence-based approach to drugs.
"HAT has been shown to be extremely effective at improving people's lives, and is beneficial for society as a whole. In 2005, the Randomised Injectable Opioid Treatment Trial (RIOTT) began in the UK and ran for a number of years, finding that supervised heroin treatment reduced rates of 'street' heroin use — therefore improving the person's well-being — and reduced criminal activity among this particular population," Fox told Sputnik.
With Canada and other countries wanting to prescribe heroin to help those addicted to other substances, some believe it would make sense for the British Government to perhaps also consider this. However, for the moment, that is not an option.
"Sadly, HAT is nowhere near to being written into the government's official drugs strategy, and the number of people being prescribed diamorphine (heroin) appears to be declining despite there being a need for this.
"Prescribing heroin improves the health and stability of some of society's most vulnerable opioid users and is cost effective, therefore improving society more broadly. The UK Government should absolutely put in place HAT programs for the people who need them," said Fox.
#Nevada to consider heroin-assisted treatment program. Good to see UK being praised — shame not more widely availablehttp://t.co/DAzSqMrOQ6
— Release Drugs (@Release_drugs) March 23, 2015
The UK drug system also appears to lack any practical help and structure for those who need it the most and any moves to follow countries such as Canada and Switzerland seem a long way off.
"It should be remembered that more than half of problematic heroin users in the UK are self-medicating for either physical or sexual childhood abuse. People drawn into abusing opioids are generally people who need help," Neil Woods from LEAP UK said.
"Why on earth do we have a system that criminalizes such people? It is abuse on top of abuse. Tough love doesn't work, the other kind does. Current policy is killing people. There were 952 deaths from heroin overdoses in the UK during the last recorded year. There have been no overdoses recorded at any supervised heroin facilities anywhere in the world."
Release also believe the current system to criminalize people simply does not work. "The UK's current drug policy still criminalizes people for simple possession of drugs for personal use, thus fostering a climate of stigma faced by people suffering from problematic drug use. Stigma has been shown by a number of studies to act as a barrier to people accessing harm reduction and treatment services," Fox told Sputnik.
"In addition, under the current government we have seen a dramatic rise in drug-related deaths, hitting an all-time high in 2014 in deaths registered.
"Heroin and/or morphine related deaths close to doubled from 2012-2014, suggesting the UK's drug policy — along with stigmatizing people suffering from problematic drug use — is hindering treatment for drug dependence."
