Methadone is used to try and stop heroin taking

The drug could offer an alternative to methadone, which is involved in about one in five drug-related deaths in Scotland.

Methadone is prescribed to heroin users in a bid to stabilise their drug use.

But a cocktail of drugs, including methadone, is found in the bodies of many drugs death victims.

More expensive alternative

Methadone works like the heroin it substitutes, and can be overdosed.

However, it is difficult to take too much of the more expensive alternative buprenorphine.

Few clinicians and GPs prescribe buprenorphine because they are advised not to in government guidelines.

It was virtually banned in Scotland 15 years ago after addicts managed to heat and inject it.

But Dr Malcolm Bruce, of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, told a conference in the city that tighter controls on prescriptions mean that this is now less likely to happen.

His comments came at a conference in Edinburgh organised by pharmaceuticals giant Schering-Plough, which makes the drug.

You can continue taking the dose but you cannot die from an overdose. Dr Malcolm Bruce

Dr Bruce said buprenorphine is a "safer" option because it shuts down brain receptors partially, not fully as methadone does.

"When you increase the dose, there is a plateau effect," he said.

"You can continue taking the dose but you cannot die from an overdose."

He added that buprenorphine would be better for addicts with Aids because it does not interfere with the body's immune system.

There were 332 heroin-related deaths in Scotland in 2001 and fatalities have been going up by about 13% annually for the last 10 years.

Dr Bruce called for the ban to be lifted in a bid to improve the situation.

He said that changes in the medical system made it less likely that buprehorphine would be abused but admitted there were still a risk that it could fall into the wrong hands.