FEAR MONGERS ATTACK A NYC HARM REDUCTION PAMPHLET THAT SAVES LIVES

A fear mongering attack on NYC Harm Reduction was launched today in
regards to a two-year-old pamphlet distributed by the New York City
Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) that details how to
reduce the harm of injecting drugs. This attack not only ignores
scientific evidence, but also threatens to undermine the proven public
health policies of harm reduction. The brochure - "Take Charge Take
Care" - is directed toward the city's residents who inject drugs and
those at risk of doing so, and it serves the critical purpose of
reducing disease transmission, preventing overdoses and saving lives.

For years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World
Health Organization and other prestigious public health organizations
have recommended that persons who inject drugs follow the types of
practices discussed in the NYC pamphlet to reduce their risk of harm.
New York City has been a model for implementing successful harm
reduction efforts that place effective public health interventions
above political posturing. Any move to eliminate or reduce access to
these programs would put individuals, their families and communities
at risk for HIV/AIDS transmissions and other infectious diseases.

Those attacking the pamphlet are out of touch with the reality of the
HIV/AIDS crisis among people who inject drugs.

"The Health Department's booklet is solidly grounded in science and
public health," said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug
Policy Alliance. "But the same cannot be said of the irresponsible
comments by John Gilbride [Drug Enforcement Administration], Bridget
Brennan [special narcotics prosecutor of New York City] and Peter
Vallone, Jr. [D-Queens, NYC City Council]. These sorts of reckless
statements by top level city and federal law enforcement agents need
to be repudiated by their superiors in city and federal
government."

For 20 years, harm reduction education has been a vital part of
comprehensive public health strategies that reduce the spread of
HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C and enhance the health of all New Yorkers.
Since the introduction of harm reduction practices in New York City,
HIV/AIDS transmission rates among people who inject drugs have
decreased by an astonishing 80 percent. The NYC DOHMH should be
commended for its leadership and innovative practices to ensure that
those at risk due to injection drug use minimize the harm to
themselves and their communities.

Criticism of the NYC pamphlet also flies in the face of recent federal
moves embracing harm reduction policies. Last month, President Obama
signed into law a measure that lifts a decades-old ban on states using
their share of federal HIV/AIDS prevention money to fund syringe
exchange programs, which have been shown to reduce the transmission of
disease. Public policy should be guided by facts, not drug war propaganda

The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation's leading organization working
to end the war on drugs and promote new drug policies based on
science, compassion, health and human rights. For more information,
visit: www.drugpolicy.org.