U.S. EXPORTING 'DANGEROUS MORAL CRUSADE'

Editor, The News;

Thank you for making the public health case for Vancouver's safe
injection site in your Aug. 24 editorial. 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. The United States provides tragic examples of anti-drug
strategies that are best avoided.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control researchers estimate that 57 per
cent of AIDS cases among women and 36 per cent 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. Canada
cannot afford to emulate the harm maximization drug policies of the
former land of the free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated.

Robert Sharpe, Policy Analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy