Heroin-assisted treatment in Canada

In January 2011, Dave Murray, a long time activist in Vancouver, BC, organized a group of former participants from the Vancouver site of the North American Opiate Medication Initiative (NAOMI) heroin-assisted treatment clinical trial in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The NAOMI Patients Association has been at the forefront of demanding that future research projects on heroin-assisted treatment create a sound exit strategy for patients beyond the availability of methadone.

In response, researchers at Vancouver’s SALOME (Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness) research project recently called on the Canadian federal government to approve the use of diacetylmorphine for patients leaving the study. The SALOME study (Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness), is a clinical trial being conducted in Vancouver, BC. The study compares the effectiveness of six months of injectable diacetylmorphine (heroin) with six months of injectable hydromorphone (Dilaudid, a licensed medication) and the effects of switching from injectable to oral heroin or Dilaudid. In late September officials at Health Canada approved a number of patients in the SALOME study to receive diacetylmorphine after leaving the study which is the first time that Health Canada has approved this medication for addiction treatment outside of a clinical trial.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.