Where once 50 per cent purity was the most refined, it is now found at 60 per cent. As it 30 per cent purity is also commonplace, the possibility of overdosing increases. Drugs campaigners are calling for an extension of the methadone programme, which supplies synthetic heroin to known users. This keeps users away from dealers, reduces the incentive to commit crime to pay for a habit, and removes the possibility of overdosing. Dr Lawrence Gruer of Greater Glasgow Health Board says the programme has seen a 75 per cent reduction in death by overdose and a significant drop in criminal activity.
Critics says only abstinence is suitable for heroin users.
The 100th victim of what is believed to have been a heroin overdose was Catherine Devine. She died that night. At the time, policemen were talking to parents at nearby Hunter high school about the dangers of drug abuse. The latest figures from the British Crime Survey show drug use in general to be on the increase, with cocaine in particular becoming the fashionable drug. A survey of 10,000 people revealed that 52 per cent had taken illegal drugs while cocaine use among 20-24 year olds had doubled in the last year.