Prescribing Heroin: The Next Logical Step for Canada

Co-presented by the Pivot Legal Society and SFU's Vancity Office of Community Engagement.

Five years after the NAOMI clinical trial, which confirmed worldwide research demonstrating the effectiveness of prescribing heroin for those chronically dependent drug users who have not responded to other forms of treatment, this health intervention is still not available anywhere in Canada. Prescribing Heroin explores the questions: what would an ongoing prescription heroin program in Canada look like, and how can we get there?

The evening began with a screening of the Danish documentary, Anyone for Coffee and Heroin? Denmark was the first country to offer physician-prescribed heroin to the most profoundly addicted heroin-users, not as a clinical trial, but as a permanent treatment program. This fascinating film documents life at Denmark’s “Poppy Clinic” during the initial year of operation from the perspectives of both patients and staff. After the film, we asked our distinguished panel of experts to reflect on the Danish experience and to discuss the ethics, the legalities and the logistics of developing a prescription heroin program in Canada.