Last week, the German parliament voted to make heroin-assisted treatment more widely available to people who have not had success with methadone.

There's been a pilot program to make prescribed heroin available in seven cities across Germany, and it's been very successful at reducing overdose deaths and illicit drug use.

Apparently, the states now want health insurers to cover the cost of heroin prescription nationwide, while the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel instead advocates launching more pilot projects as needed.

If the pressure from the states works and the program is substantially expanded, this could be a really positive development for treatment in Germany.