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After Estonian crackdown, Finnish addicts flock to Latvia for Subutex®

Nearly 50 take part in weekend package trips

Finns with an opiate dependency have begun taking part in package tours of sorts to Latvia after officials in Estonia have limited the right of physicians to prescribe Subutex®, a version of the drug buprenorphine, which is used mainly to ease withdrawal from heroin.

When the crackdown in Estonia began last summer, Finnish drug tourists moved south to Latvia.

Last weekend, a group of 48 Finns took part in one such bus tour.

A bus and a minibus were waiting for the Finns in Tallinn harbour when they arrived by ship. From there they left immediately for Latvia. A few hours later a Latvian doctor gave them prescriptions for a full course of Subutex®.

After picking up the medicine at a pharmacy, they were taken back to Tallinn.

Harri Alhainen, an official at the Finnish Embassy in Tallinn, says that officials know of about 600 Finns who regularly take the Subutex® tours.

"Apparently there is a contact person in Finland, who gives information on when the trip will take place," he says.

The trips reportedly take place on a weekly basis, and cost about EUR 350. Alhainen says that the organisers get about EUR 120 for each passenger.

He emphasises that the activity is quite legal. "Doctors have the right to prescribe the medicine to a patient diagnosed as having a drug dependecy", he says.

"Nor is there anything illegal about arranging bus trips," he adds.

Nevertheless, there is suspicion that some of the pills may end up on the illegal drug market in Finland. A single Subutex® pill costs about EUR 30 on the black market in Helsinki, and in other parts of Finland it can cost twice as much.

Subutex patients are allowed to bring in 28 pills. A single pill can be stretched to provide several doses, depending on how much tolerance the user has developed.

Helsingin Sanomat

http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/english/article/1101978909549