The positive outcomes were with regard to the individuals who received IV heroin; two other groups, receiving oral and IV methadone, respectively, are not mentioned in the Independent story. Probably that is just an incorrect understanding of the protocol and future plans for extension.

More specifics as to the trial procedures and outcomes will hopefully be forthcoming before expanded.

The one disappointing note is the final line in the editorial: “The next stage is to wean addicts off their drugs. Meanwhile, the trial itself is a tribute to the investigators, the government authorities that permitted it, and of

course the patients. The Independent headline says it all: “Britain’s first drug ’shooting galleries’ hailed a success,” and is echoed by the accompanying editorial comment under the title, “Leading editorial: ‘Shooting galleries’ work” - both published Nov. URL for the composition and the editorial:
Article

Editorial 20. That has yet to be tested.” To the extent it is implied that total abstinence from heroin and all other medication is the goal, one can readily predict the results of such a “test” on the basis of many decades of experience.

Original post by RGNewman, MD