European addiction experts urge expansion of medical heroin program in Canada
VANCOUVER — Addiction experts from five European countries say their experience with prescription heroin programs have provided overwhelming evidence to suggest Canada should expand its one clinic in the midst of a deadly opioid crisis.
Researchers from the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada held a symposium in Vancouver on Friday to share lessons they’ve learned from multiple clinical trials and years of treatment.
Wim van den Brink of the Netherlands told a news conference that some European programs started as a way to deal with the public nuisance of drug use but the medical health benefits improved people’s quality of life and saved money in the criminal justice system.
“There’s so much experience locally and internationally, the efficacy is so clear,” said van den Brink, a professor of psychiatry and addiction at the University of Amsterdam’s Academic Medical Centre.