Prescription of Narcotics for Heroin Addicts

Ambros Uchtenhagen, Thomas Steffen, Anja Dobler-Mikola

This is the first volume of the long awaited research report on a much discussed study on the prescription of heroin and other narcotics to chronic heroin addicts in Switzerland. Data were collected over a period of three years on a cohort of 1,035 chronic heroin addicts who had failed in drug-free or methadone substitution treatments and who were prescribed heroin, morphine or methadone inb the framework of a comprehensive care program. According to the findings of the study, heroin maintenance can be considered feasible and has a positive effect on both patients and their social environment due to an improvement in health and social status of the patients as well as significant decrease in drug-related delinquency.  

Herausgeber Karger