A new study suggests that the most effective treatment for the severe forms of heroin addiction may not be giving methadone or suboxone. Instead, giving addicts therapeutic doses of heroin may keep them in treatment longer and provide more quality of life improvements.

This surprising finding is the result of a recent clinical trial in Canada that involved heroin addicts for whom conventional treatment with methadone had been unsuccessful. The test subjects were divided into two groups. Both groups were given intensive social and medical support, but one group was given heroin instead of methadone.…