bigmanc
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Source; http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2014/08/21/group_of_bc_addicts_to_receive_heroin_by_christmas_lawyer_says.html
A group of Vancouver drug addicts is slated to become Canada’s first recipients of legally prescribed heroin by Christmas.
As many as 202 patients should receive the laboratory-manufactured heroin from Europe by the end of the year, their lawyer said Thursday.
“I think there’s a sense of relief,” said Adrienne Smith, the health and drug policy lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society that represented five heroin addicts from Vancouver’s downtown East Side.
“I think there’s still lots of work to be done for other people in Canada who required medication and who have been barred because of (federal) ministry of health interference.”
The patients won the right to receive lab-produced diacetylmorphine (heroin) after B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson granted an injunction in May exempting them from new federal regulations.
Since then, there have been bureaucratic hurdles to clear to achieve the necessary permissions.
There’s also the process of ordering the heroin that’s produced in Europe through a Canadian distributor. Smith said it’s expected to take almost two months to finally ship the heroin from Europe, meaning it will be in Canada in late December.
The patients went to court after Minister of Health Rona Ambrose moved last October to close what she called a “loophole” that allowed physicians to prescribe products containing heroin, cocaine, LSD and ecstasy.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Sean Upton said the government will not appeal the injunction but will continue to vigorously defend the regulations in court.
A spokesperson for Ambrose said the government does not support giving heroin to patients struggling with addiction.
“We are very disappointed with the court’s decision, and will always choose to help those struggling with addiction through recovery, not maintain their dangerous and life-threatening addiction,” said Michael Bolkenius.
The new federal regulations barred physicians from prescribing laboratory-manufactured heroin to patients who haven’t had success with other treatments, including methadone.
The constitutional challenge was mounted by the Providence Health Care Society and five patients who argued that their health improved while they were in a government-funded study called the Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME).
Smith represents the patients but not the Providence Health Care Society.
Hinkson’s ruling has narrow scope, meaning the lab-produced heroin will be available only for the 202 former patients with severe opiate addictions who participated in the SALOME study.
Before they can receive the heroin this winter, they must prove they still medically require it, Smith said.
The patients who mounted the court challenge have a proven record of failing to respond to other therapies, such as methadone treatments.
They’re also supported by requests from their physicians.
One doctor in an affidavit associated opioid use disorder with “compulsive drug-seeking behaviour, infectious diseases and related risk behaviors, such as sharing syringes, sex-trade involvement, fatal overdose and drug acquisition crime.
“Through their high consumption of illicit drugs, heroin-addicted individuals also contribute to the highly profitable and often violent illegal drug market which is believed to be largely controlled by organized crime groups.”
A group of Vancouver drug addicts is slated to become Canada’s first recipients of legally prescribed heroin by Christmas.
As many as 202 patients should receive the laboratory-manufactured heroin from Europe by the end of the year, their lawyer said Thursday.
“I think there’s a sense of relief,” said Adrienne Smith, the health and drug policy lawyer with the Pivot Legal Society that represented five heroin addicts from Vancouver’s downtown East Side.
“I think there’s still lots of work to be done for other people in Canada who required medication and who have been barred because of (federal) ministry of health interference.”
The patients won the right to receive lab-produced diacetylmorphine (heroin) after B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson granted an injunction in May exempting them from new federal regulations.
Since then, there have been bureaucratic hurdles to clear to achieve the necessary permissions.
There’s also the process of ordering the heroin that’s produced in Europe through a Canadian distributor. Smith said it’s expected to take almost two months to finally ship the heroin from Europe, meaning it will be in Canada in late December.
The patients went to court after Minister of Health Rona Ambrose moved last October to close what she called a “loophole” that allowed physicians to prescribe products containing heroin, cocaine, LSD and ecstasy.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Sean Upton said the government will not appeal the injunction but will continue to vigorously defend the regulations in court.
A spokesperson for Ambrose said the government does not support giving heroin to patients struggling with addiction.
“We are very disappointed with the court’s decision, and will always choose to help those struggling with addiction through recovery, not maintain their dangerous and life-threatening addiction,” said Michael Bolkenius.
The new federal regulations barred physicians from prescribing laboratory-manufactured heroin to patients who haven’t had success with other treatments, including methadone.
The constitutional challenge was mounted by the Providence Health Care Society and five patients who argued that their health improved while they were in a government-funded study called the Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness (SALOME).
Smith represents the patients but not the Providence Health Care Society.
Hinkson’s ruling has narrow scope, meaning the lab-produced heroin will be available only for the 202 former patients with severe opiate addictions who participated in the SALOME study.
Before they can receive the heroin this winter, they must prove they still medically require it, Smith said.
The patients who mounted the court challenge have a proven record of failing to respond to other therapies, such as methadone treatments.
They’re also supported by requests from their physicians.
One doctor in an affidavit associated opioid use disorder with “compulsive drug-seeking behaviour, infectious diseases and related risk behaviors, such as sharing syringes, sex-trade involvement, fatal overdose and drug acquisition crime.
“Through their high consumption of illicit drugs, heroin-addicted individuals also contribute to the highly profitable and often violent illegal drug market which is believed to be largely controlled by organized crime groups.”
