Does new treatment offer a 'silver bullet' for Scotland's opioid addicts?
Video report by ITV News Border reporter Barnaby Papadopulos
A monthly injection used to help treat opioid addiction has been described as a "silver bullet" for many patients by a pharmacist working with those affected in Scotland.
Buprenorphine, which is sold under the brand name Buvidal, is a monthly injection which helps alleviate some of the symptoms caused by opioid withdrawal.
A trial was launched in Dumfries and Galloway in late 2020, initially with thirty patients, and then expanding to over two hundred. It's now being used across Scotland, and was highlighted in a recent national report.
"Buprenorphine is offered as a first line treatment for new assessments if suitable," the report reads.
“Increasing the medication options available to people to include buprenorphine has had considerable impact on service users. They are given more choice in treatment and enabled to make informed decisions.”
Speaking to ITV News at a treatment centre in Dumfries, Daniel, who has battled addiction for the best part of twenty years, has just finished a course of Buvidal treatment. He's now been clean for two years.
"I never really knew what the drug actually does to your body, mentally and physically, until it was too late," he said of his addiction.
"I'll never be recovered. I'll always be in recovery."
He suggested Buvidal had helped him more than other treatments, including Methadone, a commonly prescribed opioid substitute which is normally taken every day.
"Methadone... you still to get a lot of the same effects as what you do with the drug," said Daniel. "I've got my energy back now and my brain was clearer."
Mark Blount said the treatment could be "fabulous" for certain people
Specialist Pharmacist Mark Blount said that, with its monthly, rather than daily, use, Buvidal made some patients forget they were taking medication, allowing them to live ordinary lives.
"A person, you know, still has to be in the right mood, the right time for them," he said.
"If you're addicted to opiates, then you take the opiates away, whether it be heroin or whether it be tablets, the cravings will come.
"They start getting the withdrawals; the sweats, the sore stomach, the cramps, the diarrhoea.
"So when we give them an opiate substitute, a replacement, that coats the receptors. So then that takes those withdrawal symptoms away."
The Scottish Government said: "There is no doubt that long-acting buprenorphine is a medication we want to see offered across Scotland and we are supporting its deployment as part of our investment of an additional £250m through the National Mission on drugs.
“There is a growing body of evidence that shows that as part of the right package of wider support – especially psycho-social support - buprenorphine has huge potential to be beneficial.
"The fact that people do not need to attend pharmacies every day to be dispensed their medication can also reduce the stigma people experience when they seek help, which can be a real barrier to accessing support."
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