> it's hard to get good quality research to see whether substitution is better than abstinence. How about maintenance? There's ample evidence from the UK, Swi

> it's hard to get good quality research to see whether substitution is better than abstinence. How about maintenance? There's ample evidence from the UK, Switzerland, and elsewhere showing that diacetylmorphine maintenance (treating heroin addiction with heroin) is incredibly effective[0][1]. The effectiveness of treating existing users is the primary concern, but a nice bonus is that it also seems to have served as a deterrent for new heroin users due to its social image as a medical problem, rather than a criminalized behavior[2]. (Remember that, when administered in a controlled setting and in predetermined quantities (and purity), heroin use carries few of the dangers commonly associated with its use on the street, and is fairly similar to the related drugs that you already receive in the hospital[3]) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_maintenance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_maintenance [1] http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0810635 http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0810635 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_maintenance#cite_note-9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_maintenance#cite_note-9 [3] Such as morphine (the similarity of the names "morphine" and "diacetylmorphine" is not a coincidence!)