Hi, everyone,
I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I'm sure people on this forum will have some opinions on this subject. My question requires some preliminary facts. I'm sure many of you know that heroin overdose deaths increased nationally 39% in 2013 over 2014; you probably don't know that heroin OD deaths in Michigan increased 66% during the same time period. And with the DEA reclassification of certain prescription pain meds from Schedule III to Schedule II in Oct 2014, making them more difficult to get from docs and therefore more difficult to get (and more expensive) on the black market, heroin use is likely to increase even more, which will undoubtedly result in another increase in numbers of heroin OD deaths.
Recently, I saw an article advocating for Safe Injection Sites, and just saw one suggesting "heroin-assisted treatment." Putting the obvious legal hurdles aside, I'm having a hard time figuring out what I think about these ideas. Both seem SO contrary to the accepted mandate to NOT ENABLE someone's addiction. Providing safe injection sites and heroin-assisted treatment sound a lot like enabling heroin use ... and yet the articles' arguments seem to make sense. So I'm confused.
Below are links to two of the articles that are troubling me. What do you think about this?
Why Heroin Overdoses Are Rising and How We Can Prevent Them | Amos Irwin Can Medical Professionals Safely Administer Heroin to Treat Addiction? The Evidence Says Yes | Drug Policy Alliance