Chronic addiction substitution treatment
Chronic addiction substitution treatment (CAST) is a policy adopted by Vancouver City Council in 2007[1] to reduce the harms of drug prohibition by providing substitutes to those with addictions.[2]
Overview
[edit]CAST attempts to reduce homelessness and crime by replacing illegal opiates with pharmaceutical heroin, hydromorphone or other substitutes.
History
[edit]Vancouver has a long history of innovation in drug treatment.[3][4] The first methadone maintenance treatment program was developed in Vancouver in 1959. For 15 years, Vancouver had the only supervised injection site in North America: Insite.
CAST was developed by Mayor Sam Sullivan as a result of his experience with the overdose crisis of the 1990s. He formed an organization called Inner Change to advocate for and fund-raise[5] for a research trial called SALOME.[6]
The policy was opposed by opposition Council members and narrowly passed with 6 to 5 votes even though it was unpopular with some in his core base and faced much opposition from the community.
The idea of giving heroin to heroin addicts is controversial.[7] Nonetheless many otherwise "conservative" sectors have endorsed the plan.[8]
Subsequent efforts
[edit]After Sullivan did not receive his party's endorsement to run for re-election, he focused on raising funds to implement the SALOME research trials.[9] This proved that alternatives could be used for heroin. Despite the success of the research no program was instituted by the time the fentanyl crisis of late 2015 hit the province.
References
[edit]- ^ "Drug substitution and maintenance treatment" (PDF). Council. Vancouver. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
- ^ "Vancouver Drug program raises controversy". The Canadian Encyclodedia, Macleans 2007.
- ^ "Vancouver combats heroin by giving its addicts the best smack in the world". PRI world.
- ^ "Vancouver researchers find pain medication can work as treatment for severe heroin addiction". The Georgia Straight.
- ^ "Supports for addictions reaserch". University of British Columbia.
- ^ "SALOME".
- ^ "Handing Heroin to Addicts" (PDF). National Post.
- ^ "Wait-are you sure we're talking about the same John Reynolds?". Macleans.
- ^ "Sam Sullivan speaks about SALOME". AHA Media. Retrieved 4 September 2017.