[Xylakant]

The threshold for overdoses is fairly high in all opioids though lower for heroin than for morphine. The reason people regularly overdose on heroin is that heroin from the illegal market is often of wildly changing purity and sometimes mixed with substances that increase the risk of OD.

Handing out known quality heroin eliminates that risk.

[candiodari]

The question is, to what extent is developed tolerance responsible for overdosing, and to what extent is it cheating dealers ? Medical literature at least seems to think that tolerance means overdose is inevitable, though yes, it can take years with careful control.

There is also the longer term side effects of the drug. The way those abused heroin addicts look, if you ignore most bruises (some are a consequence of withdrawal symptoms, wild involuntary movements, presumably not all though), is a medical condition.

[M_Grey]

The long-term health effects of the drug are probably comparable to the long-term effects of eating a diet of sugar water and cheeseburgers. Both are likely to end your life messily, and young, and neither are worth fighting a war over.