The Truth About Heroin

The Truth About Heroin - UK documentary
(Actual title is "Drug Laws Don't Work: The Phoney War: (Dispatches)
by Nick Davies 2001

"Diamorphine (Heroin) is a very safe medicine to use, it is not unusually dangerous, I have prescribed it to hundreds of patients and the most common side effect is constipation which can be easily managed. In fact, Paracetemol is a more dangerous drug and is more likely to damage your body and kill you. The consequence of doubling a dose of Paracetemol could mean death whereas the consequence of doubling your dose of Diamporphine is that it may make you sleepy for a while, with no permanent damage as a result." 
- Dr. Theresa Tate, Medical Advisor to Marie Curie Cancer Care

"The available evidence indicates that heroin is a relatively safe drug when provided in pure form. Hence it is the illegal form of the drug (impure street Heroin), not Diamorphine itself, which leads to health and social problems associated with its use." 
- Ostini, Bammer Dance & Goodwin, 1993, 'Journal of Medical Ethics' 

"When Heroin-dependent persons have been provided with daily maintenance doses under medical supervision marked physiological deterioration or psychological impairment has not been observed." 
-Toronto Addiction Research Foundation

"To our surprise we have not been able to locate even one scientific study, on the proven harmful effects of (heroin) addiction." 
- Dr. George Stevenson and a group of British Columbia researchers after exhaustively reviewing the medical literature on heroin addiction.