dopetalk does not endorse any advertised product nor does it accept any liability for it's use or misuse

This website has run out of funding so feel free to contribute if you can afford it (see footer)

Author Topic: Legal heroin prescribed to hundreds of UK drug users  (Read 3650 times)

Offline Chip (OP)

  • Server Admin
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Administrator
  • *****
  • Join Date: Dec 2014
  • Location: Australia
  • Posts: 6648
  • Reputation Power: 0
  • Chip has hidden their reputation power
  • Gender: Male
  • Last Login:Yesterday at 05:53:23 PM
  • Deeply Confused Learner
  • Profession: IT Engineer
Legal heroin prescribed to hundreds of UK drug users
« on: September 04, 2019, 12:40:05 AM »
source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/heroin-addiction-diamorphine-treatment-british-system-hat-leap-harm-reduction-a9061556.html

‘Saved from a horrible fate’: Legal heroin prescribed to hundreds of UK drug users, figures reveal

17 August 2019



Hundreds of people addicted to heroin in the UK are benefitting from a free legal supply of the drug, new figures show.

The Independent can reveal that 280 people received a prescription for diamorphine – medical-grade heroin – in 2017-18, via a freedom of information request to Public Health England (PHE) by Release, a drugs charity offering legal advice and support.

Under PHE guidelines, diamorphine is usually offered as a last resort after other forms of treatment, such as methadone and buprenorphine, have proven unsuccessful.

“I’ve seen firsthand how diamorphine could help people recover to the point where they were able to work, experience liberation from a cycle of repeated criminal justice involvement, be present for their families, and have hope where previously there was none,” said Dr Prun Bijral, medical director at the UK’s largest third sector drug treatment provider, Change Grow Live.

But the treatment is “under threat” due to severe cuts to drug services and the planned removal of the Public Health Grant, said Niamh Eastwood, chief executive of Release, which often works with people who fear having their prescription removed.

“Any decision to remove this treatment could lead to more people dying,” said Ms Eastwood, referring to Thursday’s figures showing drug-related deaths remained at the highest level since records began, with a 16 per cent spike in 2018.

The threat of a diamorphine prescription being removed could cause “untold damage” to those reliant upon one, said Ms Eastwood. “It can create a sense of fear and insecurity and can cause significant distress to individuals in this position.”

She warned the removal of an individual’s treatment could jeopardise their employment, and created a “real risk” of these previously treatment-aversive drug users returning to street heroin.

The UK has provided heroin users with diamorphine since 1926. Often referred to as the British System, the practice was the country’s main form of treatment until 1967, during which period the number of known heroin users rarely rose above 1,000.

“We led the world in providing diamorphine under the British System; a pragmatic and reasoned approach to a serious issue,” said Dr Bijral. “Diamorphine is just another opioid medication, used in every hospital, every day, and has been an essential medication for well over a century.”

While hundreds of people have received the drug under this legal framework ever since, the British System was largely phased out in the late 1960s – a move the then Home Office drugs chief Bing Spear branded “an unmitigated disaster” in a book detailing his time in office.

The “Trainspotting” heroin epidemic that followed “was a direct result of gifting the market to organised crime”, said Neil Woods, who spent 14 years as an undercover detective and is now chairman of LEAP UK, a coalition of law enforcement figures calling for an end to the war on drugs.

“There was no association between drugs and crime at all before the British System ended,” Mr Woods said, referring to the tactic of encouraging heroin users to turn others onto the drug in order to fund their own habit. “When heroin was controlled by doctors there was no incentive to find new customers.”

the article continues as the source link ...

friendly
0
funny
0
informative
0
agree
0
disagree
0
like
0
dislike
0
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
No reactions
Our Discord Server invitation link is https://discord.gg/jB2qmRrxyD

Tags:
 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
3 Replies
9560 Views
Last post July 11, 2015, 09:49:29 AM
by Chip
14 Replies
11139 Views
Last post November 17, 2015, 10:58:05 PM
by Chip
19 Replies
16940 Views
Last post March 23, 2017, 06:02:33 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
5547 Views
Last post September 24, 2017, 04:21:56 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
4634 Views
Last post March 01, 2018, 08:02:39 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
4478 Views
Last post March 01, 2018, 08:17:55 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
3667 Views
Last post June 17, 2019, 07:19:43 PM
by Chip
0 Replies
2861 Views
Last post June 12, 2021, 02:08:34 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
4011 Views
Last post August 26, 2021, 07:39:36 AM
by Chip
0 Replies
1791 Views
Last post June 02, 2023, 02:38:58 AM
by Chip


dopetalk does not endorse any advertised product nor does it accept any liability for it's use or misuse





TERMS AND CONDITIONS

In no event will d&u or any person involved in creating, producing, or distributing site information be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use d&u. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless d&u, its domain founders, sponsors, maintainers, server administrators, volunteers and contributors from and against all liability, claims, damages, costs and expenses, including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from the use of any part of the d&u site.


TO USE THIS WEBSITE YOU MUST AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS ABOVE


Founded December 2014
SimplePortal 2.3.6 © 2008-2014, SimplePortal