Pubdate: Fri, 01 Oct 2004 Source: Lancet, The (UK) Copyright: 2004 The Lancet Ltd Contact: http://www.thelancet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/231 Author: Robert Sharpe Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n723/a08.html INJECTING REASON Your editorial on the medically supervised safe-injection facility in Vancouver, Canada,1 correctly noted that intravenous drug use accounts for about one third of all AIDS and one half of hepatitis C cases in the USA. The figures for women are much higher. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 57% of AIDS cases among American women are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs (http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pubs/facts/idu.htm). This easily preventable public-health crisis is a direct result of zero-tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the harmreduction 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. I am confident that the prospective cohort study conducted by Evan Wood and colleagues in Vancouver will confirm what public-health advocates in North America have been saying for years. Canada cannot afford to emulate the harm-maximisation approach of the USA. Robert Sharpe is a policy analyst at Common Sense for Drug Policy, Washington, DC, USA References 1 The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Injecting reason. Lancet Infect Dis 2004; 4: 253. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D