Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
AIDS doctors call for end of war on drugs
Yet another reason to end the "war" on drugs.
Wood said that while HIV infection rates are falling around the globe, the number of cases appears to be rising in countries with aggressive policies for prosecuting drug related crimes.
He argues the war on drugs actually helps spread HIV in several ways.
It often forces addicts into hiding and out of the reach of health officials who can help protect them from the terrible dangers posed by intravenous drug use, he said. The data clearly shows, he added, that the HIV virus is spreading among prison inmates who mainline drugs.
Injection drug use accounts for one-third of new HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.
He argues the war on drugs actually helps spread HIV in several ways.
It often forces addicts into hiding and out of the reach of health officials who can help protect them from the terrible dangers posed by intravenous drug use, he said. The data clearly shows, he added, that the HIV virus is spreading among prison inmates who mainline drugs.
Injection drug use accounts for one-third of new HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/story/2012/07/23/aids-hiv-drug-policy.html
(The source is Canadian and discusses some domestic policy, but the larger point of the article is applicable worldwide.)
