Decriminalising drug use could drastically reduce crime and improve health, the outgoing president of the Royal College of Physicians has said.
Sir Ian Gilmore said the laws on misuse of drugs should be reviewed and that their supply should be regulated.

He had formed his view after seeing the problems caused by dirty needles and contaminated drugs, the BBC’s health correspondent Adam Brimelow said.

In a parting e-mail to 25,000 RCP members, which Sir Ian said expressed his own views rather than those of the RCP, he wrote that he felt like finishing his presidency on a “controversial note”.

He endorsed a recent article in the British Medical Journal by Stephen Rolles, from the think tank Transform Drug Policy Foundation, which argued that the policy of prohibition had harmed public health, encouraged organised crime and fuelled corruption.

Sir Ian told the BBC: “Everyone who has looked at this in a serious and sustained way concludes that the present policy of prohibition is not a success.  There are really strong arguments to look again.”

Sir Ian said he had had a longstanding interest in the subject, stemming from his work as a liver specialist.

“Every day in our hospital wards we see drug addicts with infections from dirty needles, we see heroin addicts with complications from contaminated drugs,” he said.

He argued that many of the problems health staff encountered were the consequences not of heroin itself, but of prohibition.

In his e-mail, Sir Ian wrote: “I personally back the chairman of the UK Bar Council, Nicholas Green QC, when he calls for drug laws to be reconsidered with a view to decriminalising illicit drugs use. This could drastically reduce crime and improve health,” he wrote.

In his recent report to the Bar Council, Mr Green said there was growing evidence that decriminalising personal use could free up police resources, reduce crime and improve public health.

Mr Rolles – whose recent BMJ article Sir Ian cited in his e-mail – told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme their arguments were “built on a critique of the failure of the last 40 or 50 years”.

He said the “punitive criminal justice-driven war on drugs” had delivered the opposite of its goals.

“It hasn’t reduced drug use, it hasn’t prevented the availability of drugs, but it has created a whole raft of secondary problems associated with the illegal market, including making drugs more dangerous than they already are and undermining public health and fuelling crime.”

“That is provoking a debate on what the alternative approaches are and the one that we are calling for is legally regulated production supply.”

From:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-10990921

Health workers made more than 1,300 mistakes involving the use of strong painkilling drugs in less than a year, resulting in at least three deaths and severe harm to two other patients.
Nearly one in five dosage errors involving morphine, diamorphine and similar opiate drugs resulted in some harm to NHS patients.

Figures released under a Guardian Freedom of Information request show mistakes in England and Wales continue at a high level despite the publicity that followed the Guardian’s revelation in May last year about the death of David Gray.

The 70-year-old died at his home in Cambridgeshire when he was injected with a tenfold overdose of diamorphine by Daniel Ubani, a locum GP who had flown in from Germany that day.

The official report into the incident last month revealed two other GPs hired, like Ubani, by Take Care Now – a now-defunct company that was then providing some out of hours services for the NHS – had been involved in non-fatal diamorphine overdoses the year before.

The breakdown of the new figures suggest lessons have not been learned, with little change in the numbers of people harmed by medication errors involving this class of drugs despite several official safety warnings.

David Gray’s son, Rory, called the new figures “unbelievable”. “Taken at face value [they] suggest nothing has been made safer with regards to opiate medicines at all. Whilst there is no accountability then it seems there will continue to be no effective measures put in place to stop these unnecessary and avoidable deaths.”

The charity Action against Medical Accidents (AvMA) said the statistics were shocking and “confirm our worst fears about not implementing patient safety alerts”.

In its own research, coincidentally being published at the same timetoday, the organisation accuses hospitals and other care providers of killing and injuring patients by not complying with official directives from the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) intended to protect those receiving care.

However, safety experts point out that the numbers of patients being treated by such drugs is rising, so the proportion of mistakes may be going down.

Both the NPSA, established in 2003 to help the NHS learn from its mistakes, and the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the health service regulator, insisted things were improving, although notifying the two bodies over drug and other errors that resulted in death or severe harm only became mandatory on 1 April this year.

The NPSA received a total of 4,223 cases involving opiate drugs between November 2004 and June 2008. Of these, 3,338 were recorded as causing no harm, 629 low harm, 242 moderate harm and four severe harm. Five patients died. There was insufficient data on five other cases. Figures from May 2009 to April this year show 1,329 cases, 1,078 said to have resulted in no harm, 179 low harm, 67 moderate, and two severe. Three patients died.

Linda Hutchinson, CQC director, said: “Unfortunately we will never be able to eliminate human error from healthcare, but the risks can be minimised. That is why it is so important that NHS trusts and other health providers report incidents, thoroughly investigate them and make changes to stop the same mistakes happening again. They should also implement changes as a result of safety alerts. Had Take Care Now done this, it is possible that Mr Gray would still be alive today.

“The increase in reporting is a good thing. We often find it is the NHS trusts reporting a high number of incidents that are doing a better job of investigating them and taking action to prevent them happening again.”

The NPSA said its reporting system was one of the most sophisticated in the world: “We gather patient safety incidents, analyse them for trends and use these as a platform on which to produce patient safety alerts and guidance for the NHS.

“It is evident the reporting culture in the NHS has improved with over 1 million incidents [relating to drugs, medical and surgical procedures] reported each year. The majority of incidents reported to us in relation to diamorphine and other opiates result in low or no harm to the patient. In addition, most of these do not relate to mis-selection of injectable diamorphine or morphine.”

The agency believed it was now told of the “vast majority” of serious incidents.

The revelations come as hospitals and other providers of care are accused by AvMA of killing and injuring patients by not complying with official directives from the NPSA intended to protect those receiving care. Dozens of hospitals, mental health trusts and primary care trusts are failing to implement patient safety alerts from the agency, despite the Department of Health writing to them reminding them to do so.

Some 29 NHS organisations had not put at least 10 alerts into action by 7 June, on issues such as drugs and oxygen, even though with some, the deadline for compliance was several years earlier, according to AvMA: “It is impossible not to conclude that lives are being put at unnecessary risk and it is likely that avoidable injuries or deaths are still being caused as a result of trusts not complying,” it says.

Public health minister Anne Milton said: “Across the NHS there must be a culture of patient safety above all else. We have set out how we intend to free NHS staff from central control and targets that are not clinically justified to allow them to focus on what really matters – reliable, effective and above all safe care for each patient.”

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/nhs-lethal-painkiller-dosage-deaths

A spate of 13 deaths among heroin users whose drugs were contaminated with anthrax has highlighted how addicts are “demonised” and struggle to get treatment, according to experts.
Since the contaminated batch was first detected in the UK last Christmas, almost 50 addicts have been admitted to hospital, while 13 have died.

Anthrax-related heroin deaths are extremely rare, and in the past were unheard of in the UK. There has been only one known previous outbreak among heroin users, and that took place in Norway in 2000.

The vast majority of the deaths in this new outbreak have occurred in Scotland, predominantly in Glasgow. Several heroin users have also contracted anthrax poisoning in England, and so far one person has died. There has also been one fatality in Germany and nine in Portugal, although the cause of these deaths is disputed.

Drugs counsellors have told the guardian of their frustration that, as the crisis mounted, they were unable to help worried addicts switch to alternative drugs, such as methadone, because of lengthy waiting lists.

“Often, if we have a health scare among drug users, the advice we give is to use drugs in safer ways. For instance with HIV, we encouraged people to use needle exchanges,” said Gareth Balmer, project manager of Addaction Dundee, a support centre. “But this time around, the message we were getting from government was to tell people to stop using heroin, which was as much use as a chocolate teapot.

“If we could have got people access to methadone or Subutex [another heroin substitute] very quickly, it wouldn’t have been a ridiculous message, but we were looking at six-month waiting lists and, in some parts of Scotland, a year.” Balmer said the situation had “brought home how behind we are in helping people access that treatment”.

“Heroin users don’t use heroin for fun; it’s a physical and psychological dependency. We have a constant supply of people who would like to access methadone, but we felt as drug workers it was insulting people to say: ‘There’s possibly anthrax in your heroin; my advice is to stop using.’ I was surprised I didn’t get punched in the face.”

Anthrax infection can be cured if treated early enough. Common signs of infection are redness and swelling around the injection area. The scale of the outbreak is still being assessed, with checks being conducted at the top-secret Porton Down laboratory in Wiltshire, where biological and chemical weapons are tested.

How the anthrax found its way into the heroin is still open to question. Some addicts claimed it was part of a plot by shadowy government agencies to rid the country of drug users. Others speculated that it was the work of the Taliban, who control opium production in Afghanistan, where more than 90% of the UK’s heroin comes from.

However, guidance issued to investigating police officers, states that there are two likely causes: “Heroin could be naturally contaminated after harvesting from contact with soil in an area where an animal had died from anthrax at some point, or by being stored or transported in contact with animal products, especially skins, from an animal that had died from anthrax,” the guidance states.

“The second option is that the heroin was contaminated at some stage during the cutting process… Of feasible agents, animal products are the most likely, and of these, bone meal would be suitable for cutting and has been associated with cases of cutaneous anthrax in people handling it in the past.”

But despite the unprecedented number of deaths, the issue has been largely ignored. “Media indifference on this issue, considering the number of fatalities that have occurred, has been disappointing, but not surprising,” said Martin Barnes, chief executive of DrugScope, an organisation that tracks trends in drug use. “These people are stigmatised and demonised. There is a feeling they are blameworthy and less deserving of public concern and attention.”

The deaths have refocused attention on the 300,000 heroin users in the UK, around 2% of whom will die this year as a result of their drug use. They have drawn comparisons with an earlier health crisis that plagued the addict community when a batch of heroin was infected with botulism.

Experts note that the price of heroin has fallen significantly in the past year, possibly as a result of bumper harvests in Afghanistan. Currently a £10 bag sold on the streets of Glasgow will contain 0.2g of heroin, compared with 0.1g a year ago – although prices have started to rise again as larger quantities of the drug are diverted to China and eastern Europe.

Balmer warned that the crisis could yet reignite. “Our worry is that the infected heroin will be buried somewhere until the heat dies down. It happened with the botulism scare. Somebody could still be holding on to it until we’ve all forgotten about it.”

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2010/jul/11/anthrax-heroin-deaths

Health Direct wonders if you had a good weekend- as nearly a quarter of the UK popultaion is overweight and the number of alcohol related deaths has more than doubled since the early nineties according to the Office for National Statistics.
The latest edition of the Social Trends report also reveals that one-in-five men and one-in-seven women over 16 drink more than double the recommended daily allowance of alcohol once a week.

The ONS has been capturing statistical data since the 1970’s on the way that we live.

During that time, life expectancy has increased by almost 10 years for men, who on average live until they are 77.8 years old, and seven years for women, who lived on average until they are 82.

The number of heavy smokers has fallen from 26 per cent of men and 13 per cent of women to seven and five per cent respectively.

Mr Hughes said: “Health is undoubtedly an important indicator and life expectancy is a good indicator of the national health.”

Mr Hughes said: “The statistics highlight some of the main social changes over the last four decades. We are now living longer, less of us get married, and household sizes are smaller.”

“More of us have cars, women are having babies later in life, and more of our household spending goes on housing, water and fuel.”

Mr Hughes said: “It is interesting that more than two thirds of people aged 18 and over in Great Britain believe that they do not need a partner to be happy and fulfilled in life.”

The latest analysis of the way we live also shows that UK residents are taking nearly 40 million more foreign holidays than in the 1970s, with Spain remaining the most popular destination.

This year’s edition of Social Trends will be the last available in paper form, showing how even our statistical analysis is moving with the times, Mr Hughes said.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Britons-are-drinking-more-getting-fatter-but-living-longer-official-figures-show

The first licensed medical drug containing whole cannabis plant extracts has been launched to treat symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS).
Sativex will be made widely available after it was approved by the medicines regulator last week.

Taken as a mouth spray, it is used to help alleviate symptoms of spasticity – involuntary muscle stiffness and spasms – associated with MS and is said to be the first symptom relief drug specifically for those with the condition.

It is the first cannabinoid medicine derived from whole plant extracts of the cannabis sativa plant, and is only the second cannabinoid drug to be licensed by the Medicines and Health care products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

Cannabis is a Class B drug and using it for medicinal purposes remains illegal in the UK.

But doctors can prescribe Sativex to MS patients experiencing the spasms and cramping associated with spasticity.

MS charities welcomed the regulator’s approval of the drug, which was developed by UK-based GW Pharmaceuticals.

Pam Macfarlane, chief executive of the MS Trust, described today’s launch as a milestone.

She said: “We have been aware for a long time, based on comments from people with MS, that cannabis-based medicines can significantly improve spasticity, which is a common, complex symptom of MS.

“For this reason, the MS Trust has campaigned for the availability of a licensed medicine that can be properly controlled and prescribed.”

She added: “The launch of Sativex is a milestone for the NHS and the MS Trust and we are delighted. It will now be down to specialist professionals to assess people and we hope that this can happen quickly.”

Ed Holloway, head of care and services research at the Multiple Sclerosis Society, said: “Sativex can help alleviate one of the most distressing symptoms of MS and its licensing is good news for people with progressive forms of the condition, for whom drugs and therapies are sparse.

“We’d like to see it made available to anybody who might benefit.”

Doctors have been able to prescribe the drug to named individuals at their own risk since 2006, the Home Office said.

About 2,000 people in the UK are already prescribed it on this basis but any MS patient will now be able to request a prescription for the drug from their doctor, meaning many more will be able to obtain it.

About 100,000 people in the UK have MS, a condition of the central nervous system.

It is most often diagnosed in those aged between 20 and 40, with women nearly twice as likely to develop it as men.

It can cause a wide range of symptoms besides spasticity, including fatigue, visual problems, cognitive problems and mood changes.

The only other MHRA-approved drug containing cannabinoid – a compound found in cannabis – is Nabilone, which was licensed in February 1995 for the treatment of nausea and vomiting suffered by cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Unlike Sativex, the cannabinoid’s it contains are synthetic.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/MS-sufferers-welcome-first-licensed-cannabis-based-drug

The National Institute for Curbing Expenditure (NICE) wants to set a minimum price for a unit of alcohol in its latest wheeze to crack down on problem drinking.
The public health quango, which labour set up as the Government’s drugs rationing body, has spent two years looking at how to reduce alcohol-related health problems.

One in four people drink at levels that could be putting their physical and mental health at risk, according to official figures.

The move will reignite debate about how best to deal with the problem.

Deaths from alcohol abuse have more than doubled in the last 16 years, with almost 9,000 a year now succumbing to conditions such as alcohol poisoning and liver cirrhosis

More than 860,000 people a year are also admitted to hospital because of alcohol and the cost to the nation of excessive drinking is put at an estimated £27 billion a year.

Health experts and charities have all backed calls for a minimum price per unit to curb Britain’s binge drinking culture.

But many in the drinks and retail industries are strongly opposed to such a move and believe a minimum price would disproportionately hit responsible drinkers.

The move has already been backed by the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Royal College of Physicians.

Analysis by Sheffield University found that setting a minimum price of 50p a unit would save up to 3,400 lives a year without hitting moderate drinkers.

A draft of the Nice guidance, published in October last year, recommended the introduction of a minimum price per unit and said there was “sufficient evidence … to justify the introduction of a minimum price per unit.”

As well as overall consumption levels, a minimum price would also help to reduce binge and underage drinking, advocates believe.

Minimum pricing is expected to have a much harder impact on supermarkets and off licenses than pubs and restaurants, which sell alcohol at higher prices.

Supermarkets in particular have been criticised for selling alcohol at very low prices, including cans of beer for as little as 22p each.

The Wine and Spirit Trade Association said that minimum pricing “would punish millions of innocent consumers” without solving the problem of alcohol misuse.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Minimum-price-for-alcohol-to-be-backed-by-Nice

Ill people are risking their lives by taking drugs such as heart tablets and painkillers that were prescribed for friends or family.More than a million people a year are using medications intended for someone else without seeking advice from their GP, new research reveals.

Professor Steve Field, the leader of Britain’s family doctors, urged those who share medicines to stop before someone died as a result.

“The sharing of drugs in this way is inherently dangerous because neither the patient who was first prescribed the medication nor the person now taking them will understand the drug or its side effects, or its possible interaction with other drugs you may be taking,” said Field, chairman of the Royal College of General Practitioners. “Those taking them are putting themselves at risk of harm or even death.”

Field described as “very worrying” the results of a survey by Lloyds Pharmacy, which runs 1,650 chemists’ shops across the UK, into people’s handling of drugs. In all, 14% of the 2,043 adults questioned by pollsters ICM said they had given prescription medicines to other people in the last five years. That would equate to 6.3m adults over the period.

They said they had shared drugs they no longer needed on an average of almost six occasions, which would equate to about 37 million doses of prescription drugs.

Women are more likely to do it (16%) than men (10%), ICM found, as are older people and those on lower incomes, which may suggest that the cost of dispensing a prescription – £7.20 in England – is part of the explanation. One in four households contains medication which is no longer being used.

Painkillers were the drugs most commonly passed on: 66% of those who had shared medication had given those to others. The other drugs included antibiotics (11%), antidepressants (4%) and oral contraceptives (3%), though some people said they had let others use unwanted medicines used to help control heart conditions and cholesterol-lowering statins, which are taken by 4 million Britons.

“The people who are taking these ’spare’ drugs might be at risk because, for example, they might have an allergy to a constituent of them, or the medication might have unintended side-effects,” said Field. “Prescriptions are given out on trust between the GP and the patient. Drugs should never be shared or passed on to people they weren’t intended for. Patients should stop doing this.

“Patients quite often say they have borrowed painkillers from friends, either to save money, or because they want to try something stronger, or because they don’t want to bother their GP or chemist. This is potentially harmful,” said Field.

“If someone borrows very strong painkillers they can make them very dopey or confused, especially if they are old, so driving a car or using machinery at work could become highly risky, for example.”

Lloyds Pharmacy voiced concern at patients passing on medications in “the mistaken and dangerous belief that they are doing someone a favour”. Andy Murdock, its pharmacy relations and governance director, said: “Doctors prescribe particular drugs to suit the individual needs and circumstances of the patient. If you cross the wrong drug with the wrong person, the results could be awful, even fatal. What’s more, it’s likely that many of the drugs which are passed on are out of date, and that presents its own dangers.”

He added: “You can understand the thought process: the drug has worked well for the patient, they have a friend who seems to be displaying similar symptoms and they have some pills to spare. It seems like a harmless and kind act to throw over a bottle and say, ‘try one of these’. But they could be allergic to the active ingredient, or it may be contra-indicated with other medication they are taking. And of course the ‘diagnosis’ may well have been wrong in the first place.”

From: http://www.guardian.co.uk/millions-lend-prescription-drugs-survey

A new working weekday- so a topical posting. Are you one of the more than 520,000 people a day who arrive for work suffering from hangovers after drinking too much last night?However, almost 90 per cent of people accepted having a hangover at work is “unacceptable”

Almost one in ten people in Britain says they go to work with a hangover at least twice a week, and one in five of those admits it has an adverse effect on their work, according to the research.

Seventeen per cent of those who conceded to working with a hangover said it caused them to make mistakes and fall behind with their work, while seven per cent said they had to go home early because they felt too unwell.

The survey of more than 1,000 adults also raised fears that bosses are not doing enough to curb excessive weekday drinking by their employees, despite its negative impact on productivity.

Almost 90 per cent of people accepted having a hangover at work is “unacceptable”, but three out of five respondents admitted having joked with a boss or colleague about suffering the morning after the night before.

Dr Katrina Herren, Medical Director, Bupa Health and Wellbeing, said: “As an employer, it is important not to ignore the effects of alcohol on employees or the adverse effects it can have on the workplace environment.”

According to Drinkaware, the alcohol charity that commissioned the survey, workforce productivity is set to plummet even further during the World Cup as drinking increases.

Chris Sorek, CEO of Drinkaware, said: “An international sporting event like the World Cup will inevitably capture the attention of the nation and is a great time for people to come together, but hangovers at work are likely to increase.”

An estimated 1.2 million pints of lager were drunk by 70,000 England fans at the 2006 World Cup, according to German officials – an average of 17 pints each.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/Half-a-million-work-with-hangovers-every-day

A report highly critical of the labour Government’s alcohol strategy was published quietly the same day that a ban on the recreational drug mephedrone was recommended.

Changes are proposed in the report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), which also accuses ministers of being insufficiently “pro-active” in their efforts to curb excessive drinking.

The report says pubs and restaurants should use a standard measure, so drinks contain similar amounts of alcohol.

Instead of measuring drinks in terms of volume – a “large” or “small” glass of wine – they should be measured in units of alcohol, so customers understand how much they are drinking.

The report was submitted nine months ago but published only on 29 March, after the council issued its recommendation for the ban on mephedrone. It was ignored due to the outcry surrounding the drug.

Strong beers and lagers should attract higher taxes and a ban on drinking games in colleges and universities should be considered, the report says. A lower blood alcohol limit should also be imposed for drivers under 25 because of their high accident rate, it adds.

The report, Pathways to Problems, provides a detailed look at progress on recommendations made by the council in 2006 on hazardous drug use.

A foreword by Caroline Healy, chair of the Pathways to Problems group who works for the Department of Health, and Professor David Nutt, former chair of the ACMD until he was sacked last November, says the council is “still concerned” about young people’s use of alcohol.

“The ACMD has already made known its concerns that the Government did not go to consultation on its alcohol strategy, and we believe the Government should take a more pro-active approach towards discouraging the culture of excessive drinking and promoting the ‘less risky drinking’ message,” it says.

The proposal to switch from measures of volume to measures of alcohol is aimed to halt the trend of serving wine in larger glasses. The report says: “Nowadays, even a small glass of wine represents a large quantity of alcohol, and this encourages ever greater quantities of alcohol to be consumed.”

Professor Nutt, a specialist in addiction at Imperial College, London, said: “If you order a glass of wine and you don’t get a schooner you think you are being overcharged. If you are given a standard glass you think that’s very small. There has been a slippage in public attitudes. People still think one glass of wine is one unit of alcohol when it might be two or four.”

Professor Nutt cited the example of the Labour Party in Scotland which voted against a proposal by the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party to tax beers and lagers according to their strength. “They [labour] opposed it [saying] it would be an unfair tax on the poor. But [low taxes] just encourages them into a state where they become alcohol-dependent.”

In the Netherlands, he said he had been served a Belgian beer in a small glass containing a third of a litre. The barman said it was not available in larger glasses on account of its strength.

A spokesman for the British Beer and Pub Association said: “There are standard serving sizes for beer, cider and spirits. As for wine, 85 per cent is drunk at home, and in restaurants it is mainly bought by the bottle. In pubs, there should be a choice of 125ml or 175ml glasses and there are 250ml glasses available in some.”

From:http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/critical-alcohol-review-hidden-by-mephedrone-row

Heroin should be routinely prescribed on the NHS as a way of weaning drug users off their addiction, the head of the country’s top nursing union has said.

Peter Carter, the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), also said he was in favour of “drug consumption rooms” to enable addicts to take drugs safely under medical supervision, and to cut rates of drug-related crime.Nurses gathering at the RCN’s annual congress in Bournemouth had earlier discussed providing heroin to addicts where other attempts at treatment have failed.

Results of pilot studies in London, Brighton and Darlington suggest that allowing users to inject themselves with the Class A drug under medical supervision can cut local crime rates by two thirds over six months.

Aberdeen has been considered as a potential future pilot location in Scotland.

But some experts are concerned at the prospect of providing legitimate “shooting galleries” in publically-funded clinics, despite the increasing use of methadone, the heroin-subsitute, and a lack of abstinence-based programmes.

Amid controversy over how to treat chronic drug users, members of the RCN, the country’s largest nursing union, discussed the possibility of providing heroin on the NHS today but did not hold a vote for or against the move.

Speaking in a personal capacity after the debate, Dr Carter, the former head of Central and North West London Mental Health NHS Trust, said that he believed in providing drugs, needle exchanges and locations for users to inject substances safely.

“The fact is heroin is very addictive,” he said. “People who are addicted so often resort to crime, to steal to buy the heroin. It obviates the need for them to steal.

“It might take a few years but I think people will understand that if you are going to get people off heroin then in the initial stages we have to have proper heroin prescribing services.” Dr Carter added that more research was needed into consumption rooms, which have been tested in Sydney and Amsterdam.

Experts found the programme stopped users injecting in school playgrounds and stairwells.

“Critics say you are encouraging drug addiction but the reality is that these people are addicts and they are going to do it anyway,” he added.

Radical proposals for the most chronic drug users were first advocated in 2002 by the then Home Secretary David Blunkett. The gave rise to pilot programmes in England in which users inject themselves with pharmaceutical diamorphine imported from Switzerland, under medical supervision.

From:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article7108342.ece