Urgent support required for emergency anthrax-contaminated heroin motion

Ewan Hoyle has asked me to urgently cross-post this from his blog. He needs 10 Lib Dem voting reps to support the motion by NOON TODAY! Please help him if you can. I have already pledged my support as a voting rep.

I have a very short amount of time to gather 10 supporting reps for this anthrax-contaminated heroin motion for conference:

Once you have read it, approve of its content and wish to support it as an elected rep, please call me on 07817536149 to give me your backing. It needs to happen before noon I'm afraid. :(

The last minute nature of this is not my fault.

Conference notes with concern:

i) That at least 26 injecting heroin users have contracted anthrax infections from contaminated heroin in the UK since December last year, with 11 of these infections proving fatal.

ii) Research commissioned by the Scottish government suggests that the average problem drug user costs society over £60,000 each year through the costs of crime, criminal justice costs, health service demands and other factors.

Conference further notes

iii) That experience from a growing number of European states and from pilot trials in the UK shows that prescribing heroin to treatment-resistant heroin addicts for supervised consumption in clinics is considerably more effective than methadone in improving patient and societal outcomes.

Conference believes:

a) That Health Protection Agency advice is unlikely to change the behaviour of people addicted to heroin.

b) That current provision of treatment services for heroin addicts is inadequate

c) That provision of alternative pharmaceutical sources of heroin to injecting heroin users could not only protect the users from the risk of anthrax infection, but protect the communities in which they live from the criminality drug addicts are often compelled to engage in to service their addiction.

Conference therefore calls for:

1) The United Kingdom and Scottish authorities to consider taking significant action to safeguard the health of heroin addicts, especially in the regions affected by the unfolding anthrax crisis.

2) The relevant authorities to learn from the experience of our European neighbours in considering the nature of this action, including consideration of the prescription of pharmaceutical heroin for supervised consumption.