The opioid epidemic in America has captured the attention and efforts of policymakers. The Obama administration seeks to allocate $1.1 billion to fight opioid abuse. States are requiring prescribers check databases as part of prescription drug monitoring programs to identify patients who may have dependency or abuse problems. Canada has taken a slightly different approach to help treat addicts: prescribing pharmaceutical-grade heroin.
The new regulations approved by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government allow heroin-maintenance programs where physicians can prescribe pharmaceutical-grade heroin to addicts who have not responded to other treatments, reports The Washington Post. In such programs, addicts can receive up to three free injections of legally obtained heroin from nurses.
Like the U.S., Canada is facing rising opioid overdoses and deaths. Both countries recently have made the opioid anti-overdose drug naloxone more available, and Canada is also promoting prescription drug monitoring programs.
For the new regulations, Canadian physicians must apply to Health Canada, the country's federal health department, for access to diacetylmorphine, or pharmaceutical-grade heroin. The government intends for this program to be available for a small minority of individuals, "in cases where traditional options have been tried and proven ineffective," reports The Washington Post.
One clinic in Vancouver, Crosstown Clinic, has been conducting a clinical trial of prescription heroin since opening in 2005. The clinic provides diacetylmorphine to 52 individuals, with proven success. Patients are generally long-time users for whom methadone and detox programs have repeatedly failed. The clinic's ultimate goal is to get such patients into care, reports The Washington Post.
More articles on the opioid epidemic:
6 things to know about carfentanil: The deadly opioid invading the US
Treating the community: Cook County Health CEO Dr. John Jay Shannon answers 5 questions on the opioid epidemic
FDA seeks to increase access to naloxone