Study suggests heroin use can be controlled
A new study from Glasgow Caledonian University suggests that some people are able to control their heroin use.
Conventional wisdom holds that heroin is a highly addictive drug that requires users to up their intake. This commonly leads to a downward spiral of relationship break-up, inability to hold down a job and serious health problems.
Whilst this research emphasises that heroin is still a dangerous drug, it finds that some users are able to take the drug for an extended period of time without suffering the normal negative outcomes.
The study, funded by the Chief Scientist Office , was based on 126 users from the Glasgow area who had been taking the drug for an average of seven years without receiving treatment or a custodial sentence.
It found that participants could maintain jobs and relationships and achieve educational qualifications on a comparable level with the rest of the UK population.
Lead researcher Dr Shewan said: “The study shows that while there was evidence of intensive risky patterns of drug use among the sample, there was equal evidence for planned and controlled patterns of use.
“Some drug-related negative health and social outcomes had occurred on a lifetime basis, but ongoing problems were rare and heroin was not a predictor in either context. In contrast to typical samples of heroin users these outcomes did not appear to be inevitable within the group sampled.”
Only 30 per cent of the participants reported experiencing drug-related health problems and only 15 per cent said their drug use had been associated with family problems.
Two people reported losing their job through drug misuse, but 60 per cent said there had been a negative effect on their employment or education.
Dr Shewan stressed that heroin was not a “safe drug” but said: “This study shows that the chemical properties of specific substances, including heroin, should not be assumed to inevitably lead to addictive and destructive patterns of drug use. Drug research should incorporate this previously hidden population to more fully inform theory and practice.”
He added: “To simply focus on a particular drug, be it heroin or alcohol, is unhelpful in terms of treatment and intervention, and criminal justice policy. To make bold statements about the war on drugs helps nobody who actually has a problem in this domain.”
Drugs charity DrugScope said that the report raised “some important questions about the nature of addiction.”
Chief executive Martin Barnes said: “It is often assumed that addiction is dictated by the substance used – that if you use heroin you are a heroin addict. However, this research shows that there are people who use heroin without suffering serious negative health impacts, while continuing to hold down jobs, without the commonly associated side-effects of heroin usage.
“We need to look more at the social factors which can contribute to an addiction, such as poverty and unemployment. A better understanding of social factors will help deliver more effective drug treatment and potentially better prevention.”
