Should heroin be given on the NHS?

[Cenobitez]

I had 2 uncles who was methadone/heroin/smack/crack users, and in the end it was indeed the best thing, they got off one drug, only to replace it with another, one of them turned to booze, and literally drank himself to death, 2 bottles of vodka a day as well as cider here and there. the other ended up in deep depression, this is after 30-40 yrs of various drug use.

One thing my mum (their sister) will always remember is what one of them wrote on the wall of their flat, "No body cares when your gone" despite her spending EVERYDAY making them meals so they would eat, arranging doctors and begging for them to be sectioned to clean out, yet they didnt see her doing all this.

[Jacques]

Someone pointed out this image on flickr to me with the words "how is this going to help him":



Quite.....

[Hell Kitten]

If heroin was prescribed he'd have access to doctors, clean needles, medical treatment without the risk of having his heroin taken away and/or the police getting involved -which, i imagine, is the main reason addicts don't get medical assistance when they need it.

[Jacques]

I'm not entirely sure they could help him - but I understand where you are coming from.

[NandoRick]

That picture is shocking , I have lost 2 friends aswell through heroin.The first was trying to get off it and was cold turkey when he caught pneumonia and died in his sleep.The second wasn't an addict but had a drink problem and met the wrong person 1 night.They got chatting while he was drunk and the guy talked him into trying it for the first time,so the junkie could get a ?10 deal for himself my mate turned blue after smoking it and the junkie ran away and left him to die.

Just last week another mate had his house broken into by a junkie and lost ?1300 and a laptop while him and his wife and 2 young children were sleeping .

Sad times

[Sam Slater]

[quote]If you want to reduce crime heroin should be given free to addicts.[/quote]

Why should the taxpayer cough up to feed other peoples habits Mike? Working people are forever complaining about pay for students to get an education, so I doubt they'll want to pay for thousands of smack heads.

This is crazy, but do you know that some youths actually get hooked on heroin purposely? This is simply because they don't want to work, or look for a job. If you get classified as being addicted to heroin, you do not have to 'sign on' and instead classed as unemployable. This means you can claim sickness benefit which is more money than living on the dole, without anyone at the job centre harassing you about what you've been doing to look for work.............seriously.

[quote]If you have ever known an alcohol addict then you will know that this legal substance is one of the most addictive and destructive substances known to humankind.[/quote]

This is totally wrong. Alcohol is nowhere near as addictive as heroin. Alcohol addiction may be more widespread -due to it's wider use- but it IS NOT more addictive as a drug. The difference is that alcohol consumption at lower levels are pretty harmless, and even recommended by GP's. It takes a fair bit of alcohol to become intoxicated, and we all know that doing too much is more likely to induce vomiting than death.

The majority of people that consume alcohol never become addicted at all, and it's only certain personality disorders that that have a bigger bearing on whether you'll get addicted to the substance or not. (People who become addicted to gambling etc, probably suffer from the same addictive personality disorder.) Over time this develops into a physical dependency like nicotine & heroin addiction.

The trouble with heroin is that you can become physically dependant very quickly -sometimes after a few hits- and overdose usually results in death, rather than being sick over your best shirt. Regardless of your personality, you could have been a regular drinker for 20 years, and still not care where your next drink comes from because you've never become addicted, but just 1 week of heroin could mean no return to normality.

Therein lies the differences, and they are pretty profound. Free heroin isn't the way to go at all.

[Gentleman]

sorry to speak out of place as i know these people were youre friends but speaking as a member of the public at large it sounds to me that your story had a happy ending ,one piss head and smackhead less in the world.

[NandoRick]

Gentleman -"sorry to speak out of place as i know these people were youre friends but speaking as a member of the public at large it sounds to me that your story had a happy ending ,one piss head and smackhead less in the world."


Happy Ending ? Do you think all addicts are born evil monsters ?

The first was trying to get off the drug, is that bad ? I went through school with the guy and you could not meet a nicer bloke.

The second guy wasn't any more of a "piss head" than half the population of this country at weekends , Do they deserve to die aswell ?

[Lizard]

Heroin has no class barriers, from wealthy Lawyers, to street chavs, but what do you know of it,s effects? an immedeate high which does not last very long at all, unlike booze, you cant just top yourself up...unless your very rich, the point I,m making is - I dont think this would work, an average habit may cost you ?2/300 per day, so I dont see where the ?12,000 a year comes in, your simply feeding a very expensive habit, also when your on a downer your mood can be so bleak even suicidal, unless you have been through this you could not possibly understand, you can condem some slimey tosser lying in the gutter and wish them dead, but that person could so easily be your son/daughter/partner, I dont know the answer, but I know that giving a user some heroin because it is possibly cheaper than looking after them is absolute bollocks, it wont work.