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  1. Marina Davoli, coordinating editor,
  2. Marica Ferri, coordinator,
  3. Carlo A Perucci, director,
  4. Alessandro Liberati, director
  1. Cochrane Collaborative Review Group on Drugs and Alcohol
  2. Cochrane Collaborative Review Group on Drugs and Alcohol
  3. Dipartimento di Epidemiologia ASL RME, Rome, Italy equitos@asplazio
  4. Italian Cochrane Centre, Mario Negri Institute, 20157 Milan, Italy

    EDITOR—Scientific evidence on the effectiveness of interventions for drug dependence is increasingly available and should be used to inform policies. Differences between the approaches of the Netherlands and Italy lead us to doubt that this is happening.

    Dutch investigators have recently recommended the prescription of heroin to addicts on the basis of two randomised controlled trials.1 The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (the European Union's drug agency) recently stated that “substitution treatment is a key component of a comprehensive approach to drug treatment and can be …

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