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Heroin Nasal Spray Increases Harm Reduction Options in Switzerland
https://filtermag.org/heroin-nasal-spray-switzerland/Back in the 1990s, Switzerland pioneered heroin-assisted treatment—successfully addressing HIV and overdose crises by offering an early form of safe supply, along with other social and medical supports.
In the years since, there have been further developments in the intervention. In 2008, for instance, some of the country’s clinics began making oral tablets of pharmaceutical-grade heroin (diacetylmorphine) available for participants who either wanted to discontinue injecting or who weren’t injecting in the first place.
However, these options don’t always meet every participant’s needs, according to Marc Vogel, head of Addiction Medicine at the University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics, which has a heroin-assisted treatment outpatient program. While some people may want to avoid injecting, they may still desire the “rush” or rapid onset that injecting provides—but which is missing if you use the tablets.
To meet this need, Vogel and colleagues across Switzerland developed a new way of providing heroin-assisted treatment (HAT): a nasal spray.
In the years since, there have been further developments in the intervention. In 2008, for instance, some of the country’s clinics began making oral tablets of pharmaceutical-grade heroin (diacetylmorphine) available for participants who either wanted to discontinue injecting or who weren’t injecting in the first place.
However, these options don’t always meet every participant’s needs, according to Marc Vogel, head of Addiction Medicine at the University of Basel Psychiatric Clinics, which has a heroin-assisted treatment outpatient program. While some people may want to avoid injecting, they may still desire the “rush” or rapid onset that injecting provides—but which is missing if you use the tablets.
To meet this need, Vogel and colleagues across Switzerland developed a new way of providing heroin-assisted treatment (HAT): a nasal spray.
The uncontaminated supply of prescription heroin results in Switzerland having 1/20th the ODs per capita as the U.S.
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