Heroin addiction drug won’t be free of charge

A NEW drug to treat heroin addiction, which arrived on the Irish market yesterday, is not being given out for free under the medical card or any drug treatment scheme.

Suboxone was launched in Ireland yesterday and pharmacists will start to dispense it once the Department of Health decides how it should be paid for.

The Merchants Quay project, which helps addicts, welcomed the introduction of the drug onto the Irish market, saying it will offer an alternative to methadone — the only drug previously available to addicts.