Question:
I'm a family practice physician. As I was browsing the Internet today, I
came across some sites on the various treatments of heroin addiction. Each
site talks about the social and economic impact of untreated heroin
addiction. These include the crime necessitated by the need to pay for the
habit.
But none of the sites talks about what's bad about heroin addiction itself.
In other words, if a heroin addict were able to obtain an unlimited supply
of the drug, and inject himself daily whenever the craving arose, what would
be the negative impact to the user or to society?
Answer:
there would be little negative impact.
IMO heroin, when used carefully, is a safer drug than, say,
methadone - and I'm a long-term methadone maintenance patient and an
advocate of its use.
The damage done by heroin is almost entirely due to uncertain
doses of a drug of unknown purity or strength, unsafe injection
practice, and the criminalization its users experience. Further, as a
recovered alcoholic, I know that alcohol is a far more dangerous
drug-of-abuse - ะชื
