Heroin on prescription

Breakfast's Mike Sergeant talked to drug users in Edinburgh

Heroin addicts who go to the NHS for treatment are usually prescribed a substitute called methadone.

The idea for many years has been to use methadone to wean users gradually off their addiction.

But now there are moves in Scotland to change that policy - and prescribe a clean form of heroin for a minority of users who fail to stick to their methadone programme.

The idea is controversial - but it has received backing from a former Health Minister in Scotland, Dr Richard Simpson.

This morning, Breakfast asked: should heroin be prescribed on the NHS?

Breakfast's Mike Sergeant went to Edinburgh, where he found addicts divided on whether prescribing pure heroin would help

We debated the issues with Richard Kramer, from the drugs charity Turning Point - and Dr Linda Harris, of the Substance Misuse Team at the Royal College of GPs.

The idea of prescribing a clean form of heroin is being examined by the Scottish Executive, as part of a review of drug treatment and rehabilitation.

What you told Breakfast Those who take Methadone have to go through worse detox than those using heroin alone. Rod McDaid, Surrey Read more viewers' comments on our Your Say page

For a minority of users, methadone does not seem to work. Some addicts take the methadone and then top it up with heroin bought on the street.

The idea would be to give those addicts a prescription for Diamorphine - which would be cleaner and purer than street heroin, and would avoid the risk of using dirty needles.

According to its supporters, prescribing Diamorphine does work in Switzerland - and could bring stability to some of the most chaotic addicts in this country.

Getting help

There are links to some of the websites which can offer help and advice on heroin on the right hand side of this story.

You can also try these helplines:

National Drugs Helpline Talk to Frank campaign: 0800 7766 00

Release 0845 4500 215