HOY NOT FAIR TO DRUG PROGRAMS

Claire Hoy fails to consider that harm reduction interventions like
Vancouver's Insite safe-injection facility reduce harm not just among
drug users, but among the population as a whole.

Look no further than Canada's southern neighbour for tragic examples
of what can happen when governments declare all-out war on drug users.
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 preventable public health crisis is a direct result of zero
tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. Can Canada
really afford to emulate the harm maximization approach of the former
land of the free and current record holder in citizens
incarcerated?

ROBERT SHARPE

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, D. C.