Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jun 2006 Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC) Copyright: 2006, BC Newspaper Group Contact: http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n715/a10.html Author: Robert Sharpe EDITORIAL ON DOWNTOWN POLICING HIT THE MARK To the Editor, Re: Private police no solution, Editorial, May 30. Your May 30 editorial was right on target. Adding more addiction services will do more to address downtown problems than moving open-air drug markets from one neighbourhood to the next. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the common sense harm reduction interventions first pioneered in Europe. The bad news is that Canada's southern neighbour continues to use its superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe. The United States provides tragic examples of anti-drug strategies that are best avoided. U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 per cent of AIDS cases among women and 36 per cent of overall AIDS cases in the U.S. are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. This easily preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. Can Canada afford to emulate the harm maximization drug policies of the former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated? Robert Sharpe, policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake