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NAOMI Heroin Not A Hit In Vancouver Yet
May 24, 2005
NAOMI Heroin Not A Hit In Vancouver Yet Modelled after European programs, the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) is the Canadian government's $8 million heroin addiction treatment study, to supply heroin for two years to selected hard-core addicts, and methadone to other addicts. Could it actually be a colossal waste of time and money? Yes, and it probably was right from the outset; because giving heroin for two years to hard-core addicts is not likely to cure their addiction as purportedly intended, now is it? There's another problem, though. Unless current, anemic enrollment levels rise, the dubious hypothesis can't even be tested in Canada, as planned. VANCOUVER - A drug treatment program in Vancouver that will provide daily heroin hits to some addicts is struggling to attract participants. Jim Boothroyd of the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) said he initially thought the phones would be ringing off the hook. Instead, the program has attracted only 21 people in two months. The Vancouver part of the $8-million federally funded program, a first in North America, was planning on dealing with 157 hard-core heroin users by November. A partial explanation could be that the conditions for acceptance into the program may be deterring enrollees. CBC notes they: Must be older than 25. Must have been hard-core users for five years. Must have used daily for the past year. Must live within one kilometre of the project's Downtown Eastside location. Must consent to making their medical histories available. Cannot be facing criminal charges. Lotta stumbling blocks there. Finally, could it also be that addicts are leery of a free and easy three-times-a-day doses of government heroin? Strange as it sounds, that could be a real factor here. After all, plenty of addicts want to kick; it may well be they don't see government heroin handouts as a solution to their problem. A radical thought, I realize. Previous Rosenblog post: "NAOMI Is Coming To Town." Posted by Matt Rosenberg at May 24, 2005 01:44 PM Comments:
I'm not sure I understand what the objective is on this one. I don't have a problem with giving out free needles, but giving out free heroin? Is the idea that addicts wont have to beg, borrow, and steal for their heroin? What does "control over their habit" mean? Seems likely to me that addicts that want free heroin (which is probably all of them) are working on getting up to the dosage demanded in the rules; that, and stealing shopping carts so they can move to with 1 km of the location. Well, that is for the addicts that don't have criminal records, which seems like a stretch to me. Maybe the already have all 21 that don't have criminal records. Posted by: Iguana at May 24, 2005 05:17 PMI would certainly be willing to spend $8 million supplying heroin if it actually reduced the amount of drug-related crime--something, I gather, that is yet to be established. But should those of us with libertarian leanings really be surprised by the slow response to this program? How much credence would you give to someone who says, "I'm here from the government, and I'm here to help"? Posted by: Tom Rekdal at May 24, 2005 05:44 PMPost a comment
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