Saturday, March 6, 2010

Heroin Maintenance Comes to Denmark

Europe: Heroin Maintenance Comes to Denmark | Stop the Drug War (DRCNet): "On Monday, Denmark opened its first heroin distribution clinic, two years after the Danish parliament passed a law legalizing the distribution of medicinal heroin. The opening was delayed until after the city of Copenhagen agreed to house the program.

Denmark thus joins Germany, the Netherland, and Switzerland, and to a lesser extent, Great Britain, as countries that allow for the provision of heroin to hard-core users who have proven unamenable to the traditional treatments, such as methadone maintenance. A pilot heroin maintenance program is also underway in Vancouver, Canada." - More here

The reason that so many countries are now trying heroin maintenance programs is because they work.

You don't have dealers shooting addicts. You don't have overdoses. You cut down on emergency room admissions. You don't have people selling their bodies or breaking into homes to support their habits. You don't have people spreading disease.

We can save money and lives.

We shouldn't lock people up in cages and treat them like dangerous animals because they have a substance abuse problem. That doesn't help them one bit. Many of these people can work and otherwise live somewhat productive lives, even if they never get off heroin. Many of them can get off heroin in time.

2 comments:

  1. Great news! Now if Sweden could only see the light.

    Most people around here have probably heard of ibogaine. But in case you haven't, it is used to immediately end the cravings for opioids. From what I've seen and read, the people who have used it and found it successful can't stop singing its praises.

    The main problem? It too is on the DEA's list of things that supposedly have no value. I wish those people would stop claiming to know more than God.

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