Pubdate: Fri, 29 Nov 2002
Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2002 Maple Ridge News
Contact:  http://www.mapleridgenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328
Author: Robert Sharpe
Note:  2 of 2 PUB LTEs
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n2138/a04.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Safe Injecting Rooms)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John)

U.S. A BAD DRUG MODEL

Editor, The News:

Tom Fletcher did readers of the Maple Ridge News a disservice by quoting 
U.S. drug czar John Walters. The United States offers Canada tragic 
examples of anti-drug strategies that are best avoided. U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control researchers estimate that 57% of AIDS cases among women and 
36% 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 policies 
of the U.S.?

According to John Walters more Americans are in treatment for marijuana 
than alcohol. He is deliberately misrepresenting government data in an 
effort to justify the war on some drugs. Record numbers of Americans 
arrested for marijuana possession have been forced into treatment by the 
criminal justice system. The resulting distortion of treatment statistics 
is then used to make the claim that marijuana is "addictive."

Zero tolerance drug laws do not distinguish between occasional use and 
chronic abuse. The coercion of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis 
into taxpayer-funded treatment centres says a lot about U.S. government 
priorities, but absolutely nothing about marijuana.

Robert Sharpe, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, DC USA 
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D