MAXIMIZING THE HARM

Kudos to Robert Marshall for an excellent Feb. 14 column on the folly
of drug prohibition.

The good news is that Canada has already adopted many of the
common-sense harm reduction interventions first pioneered in Europe.
The bad news is that Canada's southern neighbor continues to use its
superpower status to export a dangerous moral crusade around the globe.

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 approach of the former
land of the free and current record-holder in citizens incarcerated?

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.

(That one's directed to Mr. Harper.)