Heroin addicts to be given antidote in case of overdose

From today users deemed most "high risk" in the area will be handed the antidote, along with training for them and those they live with on how to use it.

The scheme has been given 75,000 of Scottish Government cash, but NHS Lothian will be responsible for carrying out the project which will have additional costs.

It involves the naloxone injection being handed out, which temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose.

As part of the training, addicts will be alerted to what signs to look for if they feel they are overdosing.

It is hoped those precious extra minutes may allow time for the arrival of an ambulance and paramedics, with potentially life-saving consequences.

Health chiefs and city charities said the move was crucial to reducing the country's drug-death totals, and would also support the recovery process. But critics have argued money should be going into stopping the problem altogether.

Fears have also been raised about encouraging users to take higher amounts of the drug, knowing they have an "insurance policy".

The health spokeswoman for the Conservatives in Edinburgh, Councillor Kate MacKenzie, said: "The end result should be getting people off drugs, not giving them more material to continue their habit."

It is understood the drug addicts with the most chaotic lives and deemed the most vulnerable by the NHS, through programmes like needle exchanges, will be the first to gain help. Then the programme will be rolled out to those less at risk.

Angus Bancroft, a senior lecturer in social and political science at Edinburgh University, said: "There is not any evidence to suggest having this available to the user would increase the chances of them taking more.

"There is always an ethical argument over whether or not you should use one drug to reduce the harm of another.

"I'm not sure of the merits of self-administering naloxone, I would have thought it would have to be someone there with them trained in how to do so."

Although drug-death figures dropped slightly last year, to 81, the long-term trend is still upwards. NHS Lothian already shells out almost 4 million a year prescribing heroin substitute methadone.

Glenn Liddall, managing co-ordinator for Simpson House, which helps drug and alcohol addicts, said: "If it helps save lives, which it will, I don't see how it could possibly be a bad thing."

Jim Shanley, manager for NHS Lothian's harm reduction team, said: "The naloxone programme can mean the difference between life and death."It has a key role to play in reducing harm and supporting recovery."

Fergus Ewing, Scotland's community safety minister, added: "Naloxone has the potential to save lives, that is why I want to see it available as widely as possible to those at greatest risk of overdose."