They proved diamorphine to be a viable maintenance drug which has shown equal or better rates of success than methadone in terms of assisting long-term users establish stable, crime-free lives.
[10] These results encouraged countries like Germany and the Netherlands to conduct their own trials and finally to include heroin-assisted treatment fully as a part of the national health system in 2009.
[13] In recent years the British have begun moving towards the inclusion of heroin maintenance programs as a legitimate component of their National Health Service.
Groups such as United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Transnational Institute have released documents advocating harm-reduction strategies, though only the latter mentions heroin-assisted therapy.
These facilities provide users with the information and equipment necessary to avoid infection with diseases such as HIV, but leave them dependent on the black market.
And as doctors refrain from drastic changes in dose and provide post-injection monitoring, overdoses are rare and can be quickly treated with opioid antagonists like naloxone.