NORWAY GIVES HEROIN TO ADDICTS TO ‘IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE’

August 13, 2018 in News by RBN Staff

 

Source: Newsweek

 

Norway will begin testing a free heroin program in order to help some of its drug-addicted citizens, its health minister said on Friday.

The Scandinavian country has one of the highest drug mortality rate in Europe, with about 81 deaths per million in 2015, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. The country is behind its neighbors Estonia, which has a drug overdose rate of 132 deaths per million, and Sweden with has about 22 deaths per million people.

In the U.S., 115 people die every day from opioid overdoses including drugs like heroin, pain relievers and fentanyl, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“We hope that this will provide a solution that will give… a better quality of life to some addicts who are today out of our reach and whom current programmes do not help enough,” Health Minister Bente Hoie wrote on Facebook, according to the AFP.

A needle, spoon, and narcotics bag are seen near a heroin encampment in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 10, 2017.
In North Philadelphia, railroad gulch as it is knowen, is ground zero in Philadelphia?s opioid epidemic. Known by locals as “El Campanento,” the open air drug market and heroin encampment is built with the discarded materials from the gulch and populated by addicts seeking a hit of heroin to keep their dope sick, or withdrawal symptoms, at bay. In one area, near the 2nd Avenue overpass, empty syringe wrappers blanket the refuse like grass —
the used needles they once contained poking through like thistles. According to the city Health Commission, Philadelphia is on track to see 33 percent more drug overdose deaths in 2017 over last year.
/ AFP PHOTO / DOMINICK REUTER

A needle, spoon, and narcotics bag are seen near a heroin encampment. Norway announced on Friday that it was trying out a free heroin program to better improve the lives of addicts.DOMINICK REUTER/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The Norwegian government announced on Friday that they would begin the program in the near future.

Giving drug addicts free access to more drugs may sound strange, but medical heroin therapy has already been put into place in countries like Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark. While controversial, people who have seen these programs in action say that it can lower overdose mortality because the government will be overseeing how much of the narcotic is distributed.

Medical heroin therapy can also improve quality of life for addicts. In nations where it has been tested, it can also reduce the amount of crime associated with the drug and help the government keep down the costs of illegal drug use.

LEAP UK, an organization that brings a range of figures from the criminal justice system together with civilians to raise awareness to failed and punitive drug policy, congratulated the Scandinavian country on Twitter, saying that the program is a step in the right direction.

 

LEAP UK@UKLEAP

Norway steps up! Well done. They’re set to prescribe heroin to those who need it. As we know, this used to be the British system, it helps save lives, severs links to organised crime, and generally helps with individual and societal safety. This is… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/10/norway-trials-free-heroin-prescriptions-for-most-serious-addicts?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other 

Norway trials free heroin prescriptions for most serious addicts

Project aims to improve quality of life and reduce high fatal overdose rates

theguardian.com

 

Norway is reportedly beginning the first treatments under the new project by 2020, the nation’s health ministry said in a statement. The first wave of therapy will benefit up to 400 drug addicts, according to the daily Aftenposten – Norway’s largest newspaper.