Doctors given Health Canada approval to prescribe heroin

After years of petitioning by health officials in British Columbia, Health Canada has authorized some B.C. doctors to prescribe heroin for select patients who have failed to respond to conventional opioid addiction treatments.

However within moments of the authorization, Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose blasted the department’s decision, saying it flies in the face of the Conservative government’s anti-drug policy, and vowed to ensure it never happens again.

Then, Ms. Ambrose said in a statement the decision simply “allows [the drug dependents] to continue to have access to heroin for their addiction even though other safe treatments for heroin addiction, such as methadone, are available.”

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