title: Heroin-assisted treatment: has a controversial treatment come of age?†.
abstract: This editorial considers the findings of the systematic review of heroin-assisted treatment, with six different studies from six different countries, published in this issue. The meta-analysis focuses on supervised injected heroin and reports significant crime reduction and an overall cost-effectiveness of treatment. Despite this body of evidence, policy makers remain reluctant to develop this treatment further. The question remains, what else is required to convince policy makers of the value of such treatment for severe and refractory heroin dependence?
authors.affiliation: Michael Farrell, FRCP, FRCPsych, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales, Sydney; Wayne Hall, DPhil, FASSA, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia michael.farrell@unsw.edu.au.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.affiliation: Michael Farrell, FRCP, FRCPsych, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC), University of New South Wales, Sydney; Wayne Hall, DPhil, FASSA, Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Wayne
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hall
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003932:Heroin / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D003932:Heroin; D008691:Methadone