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Heroin - Another Approach
The "War" on drugs has failed and will always fail. It is estimated that 20 metric tonnes of heroin are smuggled into Britain EVERY YEAR.
Prohibition has never been a valid way of dealing with social problems - remember what happened in the 1930's when alcohol was outlawed in the U.S.A.?
Prohibition results only in criminal monopoly of whatever is banned. The gangs control the quality, the quantity and as a result they dictate the price.
The heroin which is sold on our streets today is likely to have been 'cut' with other substances such as glucose, sand, sleeping tablets (to mimic the hit), or even drain cleaner. Every so often, a batch of pure heroin hits the streets, and there's a spate of overdoses as users who've been injecting stuff with a relatively low heroin content suddenly get a dose which is much stronger than they're used to.
Pharmaceutical heroin is not that dangerous a substance. Edith Bagnoll, author of 'National Velvet' became a heroin addict after having surgery. She was given diamorphine daily by her doctor for the rest of her life. Did she die in a gutter somewhere, her skin ravaged by infection? No, she lived quite healthily until she died - AGED 91.
It's the impurities that cause the infections. That and using dirty needles.
Prohibition does NOT work.
The media have distorted the nature of the heroin problem in Britain. The war on drugs approach has succeeded only in raising public prejudice against heroin addicts. The SSP have also faced their fair share of inaccurate and inflammatory reportage - especially from one of the less scrupulous Scottish tabloids.
What has caused the controversy is the SSP's proposal that heroin addicts be given phamaceutical heroin until they feel ready to quit, in secure places where they can receive medical supervision and counselling.
A project in Berne, Switzerland did just this. In the project's trial year, the number of drug deaths fell by 50%. The Swiss people voted in a referendum to continue the project. Latest figures show that 66% of the addicts on the programme are in some kind of paid employment - half of whom are working full-time.
A programme like this in Scotland would enable heroin addicts to rebuild their lives, and eventually to get working again and start giving something back to society.