...heroin prescription?
Currently, a number of Dutch cities are conducting experiments in which heroine is prescribed on medical grounds. In this, the addict is considered to be a patient and heroine a medicine. The aim of the study is to examine whether the prescription of heroine has a beneficial effect on the physical or mental health of the addict. There is no free supply of heroine, however. Only a limited and pre-selected number of addicts meeting specific criteria are eligible for heroine prescription.
De Hoop has a sceptical attitude towards these and similar experiments and is fundamentally against consciously maintaining addiction. De Hoop also does not agree with the opinion that certain groups of addicts are therapy resistant and cannot undergo further treatment. Moreover, De Hoop considers it to be more beneficial in such an experiment to supply methadone instead of heroine because methadone can suppress withdrawal symptoms for a longer period of time. Lastly, De Hoop also objects against the fact that the aims of the experiments are reduced to improving the addicts' health and stimulate psychosocial stabilisation and that there is no intention to motivate addicts to break with their addiction.
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