Pubdate: Tue, 26 Jun 2012 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2012 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Natalie Stechyson Referenced: The War on Drugs and HIV/AIDS: How the Criminalization of Drug Use Fuels the Global Pandemic: http://globalcommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/themes/gcdp_v1/pdf/GCDP_HIV-AIDS_2012_REFERENCE.pdf WAR ON DRUGS BEHIND SPREAD OF DISEASE, GLOBAL REPORT SAYS Canada must embrace a public health approach to drug addiction rather than treating it as a criminal justice issue in order to curb the spread of HIV/ AIDS among drug users, says a Canadian adviser for a new global report. The report, released Monday by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, condemned the worldwide war on drugs as a "remarkable failure" and claimed it is driving the rapid spread of HIV/ AIDS among drug users and their sexual partners. The emphasis on law enforcement has not achieved its stated objectives in terms of reducing the availability or rates of drug use, said B. C.' s Dr. Evan Wood, founder of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy and an adviser on the report. Those who suffer from drug addiction are stigmatized and treated as criminals, Wood said. "I think we'll look back on that and see how foolish that was, and how that really created many more problems than anything else. "It is simply not sustainable to continue the current road that we're on." Globally, fear of arrest drives those who use drugs underground and into high-risk environments, the report said. Conditions and lack of prevention measures in prisons lead to HIV outbreaks among drug users, it argues, adding public funds are used for drug enforcement efforts when they could be invested in HIV- prevention strategies. Incarceration has been identified as a risk factor for contracting HIV in Canada, the report noted. And a 2011 Canadian study has shown that the greater the number of times that an HIV- infected person is incarcerated, the less likely that person is to adhere to antiretroviral therapy. "To have people cycling in and out of prisons has very serious implications for public health," Wood said. An estimated 65,000 people in Canada were living with HIV/ AIDS at the end of 2008, according to the most recent figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada. Of those, 17 per cent were infected through their use of injection drugs. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom