# What happened to the program in the UK where they gave drugs to addicts?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [December 4, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332 "2014-12-04T19:14:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/1 "2014-12-04T19:14:19Z")
About 20 years ago, I saw a show (60 Minutes, IIRC) which detailed a program in the U.K. that simply gave heroin and cocaine to hard core addicts. They noted that about half of the recipients ended up going clean on their own and that as long as you don’t overdose, pure heroin and pure cocaine aren’t dangerous. Is this program still around? If not, why was it cancelled? Have there been any studies done on the outcome of the program?
Thanks,
Rob
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### Author:  [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)
#### Post date: [December 4, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/2 "2014-12-04T20:56:20Z")
Wikipedia has a pretty good article on [heroin-assisted treatment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin-assisted_treatment). It looks like the original programs have mostly switched to using maintenance drugs (diamorphine, methadone).
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### Author:  [@duncs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duncs)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/3 "2014-12-05T10:50:52Z")
I thought you meant TV program, I was thinking “Eastenders on crack” :smack:
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### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2014, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/4 "2014-12-05T11:18:55Z")
> [@duncs](#):
>
> I thought you meant TV program, I was thinking “Eastenders on crack” :smack:
You mean they aren’t?
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### Author:  [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)
#### Post date: [December 5, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/5 "2014-12-05T11:27:55Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#):
>
> About 20 years ago, I saw a show (60 Minutes, IIRC) which detailed a program in the U.K. that simply gave heroin and cocaine to hard core addicts. They noted that about half of the recipients ended up going clean on their own and that as long as you don’t overdose, pure heroin and pure cocaine aren’t dangerous. Is this program still around? If not, why was it cancelled? Have there been any studies done on the outcome of the program?
>
> Thanks,
> Rob
> [@SpoilerVirgin](#):
>
> Wikipedia has a pretty good article on [heroin-assisted treatment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin-assisted_treatment). It looks like the original programs have mostly switched to using maintenance drugs (diamorphine, methadone).
Methadone is the main one. At least thats the generic name we give to the drug when people recieve their prescriptions. It’s still a massive programme and the recipients are seen at most pharmacies daily.
How effective has it been? This depends on who you ask. Im of the opinion that it has largely been a failure.
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### Author:  [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/6 "2014-12-06T13:12:56Z")
Methadone works extremely well for some people, and for those people it’s undoubtedly been a life-saver. But the person needs to have a range of supports around them and too often, they don’t.
As to the OP [here](http://www.drcnet.org/guide2-95/liverpool.html) is an article from 1995 about Britain’s heroin maintenance program. It attributes the end of the program to pressure from the US government, but as I recall the British tabloids also played a role.
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/7 "2014-12-06T14:52:02Z")
I don’t recall what country it was but I believe one country tried giving out cut/weak versions of heroin. All that did was cause the addicts to sell it on the street and buy more pure versions of the drug.
Considering that pharma grade heroin or coke probably costs less than $1/gram its probably cheaper to just give it to addicts.
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [December 6, 2014, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/8 "2014-12-06T16:30:02Z")
I don’t know if it was the same show, but the one I saw showed that they not only gave methadone for heroin addicts, but actually gave low doses of cocaine to coke addicts (rather than have them commit crimes to buy it). They only gave them barely enough which, if you’ve ever used cocaine, is kinda worse than nothing IMO! 😃
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### Author:  [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)
#### Post date: [December 12, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-program-in-the-uk-where-they-gave-drugs-to-addicts/706332/9 "2014-12-12T02:25:17Z")
Here is an article about the Netherlands doing this.
> **[Only in the Netherlands Do Addicts Complain About Free Government Heroin](https://www.vice.com/en/article/xwp74q/only-in-the-netherlands-do-addicts-complain-about-free-government-heroin)**
>
> Using free heroin has now become so easy, addicts are beginning to feel like society has given up on them.
The junkies have to go to a gov. center to get their drugs, and they have to use them there.
Seeing how pharmaceutical grade heroin is probably less than $1 a gram, giving it away is much cheaper than paying for the police to deal with all the crime and black market issues.
Apparently in the Netherlands the heroin addicts are now a subculture cut off from the rest of Dutch culture, and the junkie epidemic doesn’t really affect people under 40 anymore. So it seems their program worked well.