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NEWS: The Age 24 Jan 02: Heroin substitute test may be tried

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BigTrancer

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Heroin substitute test may be tried
By JULIE ROBOTHAM
Thursday 24 January 2002
A pilot medical trial of an injected substitute for heroin could start in Sydney this year, with a handful of addicts receiving treatment up to three times a day.
The proposal - to offer supervised injections of the potent painkiller hydromorphone as a first step to weaning users off drugs - will reignite the long-running debate over whether prescribing heroin could entice into treatment people who have rejected other established therapies such as oral methadone.
Prime Minister John Howard has been implacably opposed to prescribing heroin itself. Four years ago he vetoed a planned heroin trial in the ACT.
But the government would have no power to prevent a trial of hydromorphone - a registered opiate in widespread use in Australian hospitals - if it were approved by a research ethics committee.
Hydromorphone, also known by its brand name Dilaudid, offered an almost immediate, short-lived "high" so similar to heroin that some users could not tell them apart, said Wayne Hall, the director of public policy and ethics at Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience.
Full article at: http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/2002/01/24/FFX1MPTZRWC.html
BigTrancer :)
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Few questions here.
What is the point to these trials (Im being serious)?
Obviously they're trying to get people off heroin, but if it's so close to heroin some users cant tell the difference, it's not going to help the physical addiction. So basically, they're trying to give people free drugs in order to counsel them right?
I have no opinion here, these are genuine questions as to the thinking behind these trials.
 
anafalicious: similar principal to methadone. To get people out of the lifestyle, and associated dodginess. For example, to stop people committing crimes like prostitution or burglary or servo holdup to support an expensive habit. To reduce the risk of OD and infectious disease transmission by giving a pharmaceutical grade drug under safe/sterile conditions. Obtaining opiates for an addict is a full-time occupation, so a suitable substitute allows people to do other stuff, like seek training/employment, care for themselves and their family. They can also get counselling.
I think it's a great idea for people wih severe addiction, as the current alternatives aren't too good (at least not those used in Aus). For example, methadone withdrawl is much more protracted than heroin withdrawl, with physical symptoms lasting 1 -2 weeks. Naltrexone isn't subsidised for heroin addicts, only for alcohol addicts and I met a person who had to pay over $200 for a month's supply (I know that doesn't sound like a lot compared to heroin, but that's not the point). Buprenorphine and naltrexone are good for people who are motivated, but lots of people aren't motivated at first.
 
Thanks, I figured it was along the lines of this.
Methadone has always struck me as an odd substitute for heroin, as most people say it's harder to get off methadone than heroin...
 
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