Should heroin be given on the NHS?

[NandoRick]

There are stories on the internet and the news,that a senior police officer has said that addicts should be given heroin on the NHS. He argues that the cost would be 12 grand a year per addict, in return for the 45 grand they would usually steal to pay for their drugs.

Now i can see his point because if the addict is getting it free there should be no reason to steal, mug and commit other crimes. it should cut peoples home insurance claims and car insurance claims. the problem i see is that surely though we should be getting them off the drug rather than just supplying them?.

The reality i suppose is that it is worth a try because nothing else has worked and anything that can cut the stranglehold that some dealers have over some areas of the country is a good idea. i think most peoples arguements will be that the NHS cannot supply drugs for certain illnesses like cancer and alzheimers because of cost yet here they are piloting a scheme to give addicts drugs for free and why should they as a non addict pay for someone who is.

what are peoples views?

[Sam Slater]

Aghh heroin.....

Sadly, these users will nearly always be a burden on society. They either steal for their habit, or the taxpayers pay the bill for their treatment. A good majority will never kick the habit and we can only hope that they die of an overdose.

Now I'm not usually one for wanting people to die, but is there any other way? Hasn't every country tried? The real solution is to treat the causes of addiction, but that's a different matter to 'what to do with the ones already addicted'.

I've had 2 friends die of a heroin overdose, and their loved ones have always come to the conclusion that it was the best thing that could have happened, because all the treatments & rehabs didn't make any long term difference.

They were a burden to society in general, a nuisance to neighbours, police & medical staff, and just put their families & friends through heartbreak & hell.

[mrmcfister]

Yes I have someone in the distant family who was a heroine addict..totally wankered him up ..Addicts need to want to give up.That may mean being brave and for some its too hard.Others are just selfish fucks and society is better off without 'em......

[Jacques]

I really don't know to be honest. On one hand I think great if it works but on the other I sort of agree with Sam Slater.

But then should we not do more to stop the problem in the first place? If you can't get access to heroin then you don't have a heroin problem.

Reading ceefax this morning there was somebody warning about the impending influx of heroin due to a bumper harvest and because there is more, the heroin is purer and therefore more dangerous as users were more likely to overdose. And where is this bumper crop coming from? Afganistan!!!

[eroticartist]

If you want to reduce crime heroin should be given free to addicts. The prisons are full of them and organised crime thrives on supply. Holland has the most aging population of heroin addicts in the world.

Because the generalisation "drugs" naive people assume that a drug is a drug and that they are all the same. In fact some psychotropic substances are fairly harmless when used in moderation but others can be fatal.

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. I drink two glasses of wine a day but one has to have a lot of willpower to stay at a safe level.

However illegal drugs earn an enormous amount for organised crime, and as with all prohibitions, a substantial amount of this filthy lucre finds its way to the top. Corruption is the real problem, as the precedent of Al Capone and the Volstead Act that outlawed alcohol as a prohibited drug in the States proved in the Thirties. Until the Aegean Stables of corruption that exists here in this country are dealt with then this problem will never be solved.

The answer : legalise all recreational substances and educate he public as to each specific substance's deleterious effect.

Mike Freeman.

[Hell Kitten]

IIRC, there used to be a system in this country where addicts could be prescribed a weekly dose of heroin by their GP....

I think it's probably a good idea, until we come up with a decent system for withdrawl/rehabilitation, addicts will almost always be forced into an increasingly dangerous and criminal lifestyle as they try and find the money for their next fix.

Also, if heroin was prescribed by Doctors and GP's, users would have access to clean needles and so on, which would hugely reduce the spread of AIDS and HIV.

[eroticartist]

Hell Kitten,
Another good point.
Mike

[Gentleman]

As a person who has the "honour" of working with offenders, alcholics and smack heads in a line of work where i get to see them in their day to day lives unlike probation services, police and all those caring drug intervention teams my conclusion is that the only way to to with the problems these scum bags bring is to flood the market with spiked gear so you can kill them off .

You heartless uncaring swine no doubt some liberals will say, but i say this everyone knows aobut the dangers and yet they still choose to do it and once they start dropping like flies the danger becomes real rather than something that might happen to someone else and is only then used so certain charities etc can get some more money.

Oh yeah withdraw NHS treatment as well and welfare state benefits as well as at it stands at the momnet these dreggs can actually cliam more money for doing something that destroys the world around us and dont get me started on the other fringe benefits they can recieve as well (E.g council housing etc..)

Druggies are dirty scum who have a nasty habit of not dying when they overdose.

Christ dont get me started on the celebrity filth who are drug users and no body cares and in fact get more money / fame because of it such as moss and doherty.

[Porn crackers]

How would you feel if you had worked all your life/ law abiding etc then something you can do nothing about happens to you.... like cancer or Altzhiemers you then get told you cannot be prescribed life saving/ improving medicine...... not a NICE!!! thought in itself. But then you find out that a criminal who has never worked is prescribed drugs.... UGH......

Ducking all the rolled up Guardian newspapers being thrown at me.....

Someone else wrote on another forum.... Next we'll be buying "Joy Riders" cars to cure them.....

Btw I hate the term Joy Riders... they are common car thieves and they
bring joy to know one.

PC