Plans for heroin to be prescribed to addicts in West Midlands

Police and crime commissioner David Jamieson sets out policy at odds with national approach
The Guardian (UK)
Monday, February 12, 2018

Doctors in the West Midlands could soon be prescribing heroin for addicts, who would be invited to inject themselves with clean syringes in drug consumption rooms with medical staff on standby, under a plan by the region’s police and crime commissioner David Jamieson setting out a number of recommendations for a regional drugs policy sharply at odds with the government’s zero-tolerance approach. The proposals also include a mechanism to divert criminals who use drugs into treatment rather than the justice system, equipping police with the overdose treatment naxalone, and introducing on-site drug testing in nightclubs. (See also: A police force is set to go against government policy to try and save lives | Drug reform police chief faces the Downing Street backlash)