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.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom