NEEDLE EXCHANGES HELP LOWER AIDS RATES

Regarding Perspective Editor Sid Salter's June 11 article ("Miss.: 25
years of AIDS"), needle exchanges have been shown to reduce the
spread of HIV without increasing drug use. They also serve as a
bridge to drug treatment for an especially hard-to-reach population.

Drug users are not the only beneficiaries. U.S. Centers for Disease
Control researchers estimate that 57 percent of AIDS cases among
women and 36 percent of overall AIDS cases in the United States 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. In the
interest of containing the HIV epidemic, let's hope tough-on-drugs
politicians acknowledge the drug war's tremendous collateral damage
sooner rather than later.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy analyst

Common Sense for Drug Policy

Washington, DC