(CNN)Health Canada has amended its regulations to allow Canadian doctors to prescribe heroin as a treatment for those who are severely addicted to the drug. Last week's change to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act permits doctors to apply for permission under the federal Special Access Program to offer their addicted patients diacetylmorphine: pharmaceutical-grade heroin.
The government referred to a "medical need for emergency access to diacetylmorphine" in the regulation.
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"A number of countries have allowed doctors to use diacetylmorphine-assisted treatment to support the small percentage of patients with opioid dependence who have not responded to other treatment options," the regulation states. "There is also a significant body of scientific evidence supporting its use."
The new rule reinstates an old one, explained Eugenia Oviedo-Joekes, an associate professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia.
In October 2013, then-Health Minister Rona Ambrose removed diacetylmorphine from the federal Special Access Program and so banned doctors' access to prescription heroin. The new regulation clarifies that heroin can be prescribed to patients only under supervision in specialized circumstances, said Oviedo-Joekes: "They made it a bit more clear how this request should be handled."
Oviedo-Joekes led the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, an experimental drug trial evaluating the feasibility and effectiveness of heroin-assisted treatment in a Canadian context. The study, which is referred to in the new regulation, examined heroin as a treatment for severe addicts in British Columbia and found a higher percentage of female users and a significantly higher prevalence of crack use than in European settings. The authors noted that cocaine addiction jeopardizes the possible results in opioid addiction treatment.
