OUR DRUG POLICIES FUELLING HIV EPIDEMIC

In Canada, Bill S-10 Will Turn Users into Hardened Criminals

Like many other police officers, I have witnessed the tragedy of the
HIV epidemic firsthand. It is one thing to read the statistics
demonstrating the connection between illicit drug use and HIV; it is
another matter entirely to patrol the streets, day in and day out,
repeatedly arresting men and women infected with HIV.

Our country has one of the finest health-care systems in the world,
but our laws surrounding drug use result in unnecessary disease and death.

In this context, the recent announcement of the Vienna Declaration
has bolstered my conviction that drug prohibition is a national policy failure.

The document, inspired by an international team of leading health
scientists and academic physicians, is the official declaration of
this month's International AIDS Conference in Vienna. It presents an
important scientific fact that I see reflected in my work every day:
"The criminalization of illicit drug users is fuelling the HIV
epidemic and has resulted in overwhelmingly negative health and
social consequences."

The declaration calls for a "full policy reorientation." This should
not be misconstrued as an endorsement of drug use.

It is simply a recognition that drug law enforcement is not an
effective deterrent, citing studies showing "there is no evidence
that increasing the ferocity of law enforcement meaningfully reduces
the prevalence of drug use."

It is also a recognition that drug-law enforcement is contributing
directly to the HIV epidemic. In most parts of the world,
approximately one in three HIV infections can be traced back to
intravenous drug use. Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria, Winnipeg and other
Canadian cities are not immune.

Drug prohibition increases the rate of HIV infections. When illegal
drugs are sold through the black market, the only concern is making
money. There is no financial incentive for traffickers to provide
drug education, counselling or harm reduction services such as sterile needles.

In addition, in parts of Canada it is common for an injection drug
user to be arrested for a minor drug charge and end up with a
court-imposed condition to abstain from possessing drug paraphernalia.

Addicts are then forced to choose whether to carry sterile needles
and risk a new criminal charge or to share a needle with another
addict who may already have a bloodborne disease.

The Vienna Declaration is particularly important within Canada. Bill
S-10 is before Parliament. It is the federal government's third
attempt in as many years to create mandatory minimum sentences for
certain drug offences.

The wording of this legislation virtually guarantees that
street-level drug addicts will find themselves going to jail for
lengthy prison terms. This will do nothing but channel limited tax
dollars away from health and education and into costly incarceration
policies which will turn petty drug users into hardened criminals.

HIV prevention efforts will be hampered if this bill passes. The HIV
infection rates in federal prisons are similar to some African
countries, according to the statistics provided by the Correctional
Service of Canada. So, for many of these addicts, part of their
sentence will include a substantial risk of contracting HIV or Hepatitis C.

Of course, the Vienna Declaration is not the first time a major
initiative has been announced to coincide with the biannual
International AIDS Conference. Ten years ago, the Durban Declaration
stated a basic scientific truth: That HIV is the cause of AIDS. More
than 5,000 scientists and medical doctors signed the document in an
effort to confront AIDS denialism.

The main critic of the Durban Declaration was Thabo Mbeki, who was
president of South Africa at the time. He believed, mistakenly, that
there was a causal link between poverty and AIDS. In fact it is HIV
that causes AIDS. His denials, rooted in ignorance and wilful
blindness, have cost many lives in South Africa.

Given this history, it will be interesting to see who opposes the
Vienna Declaration. Police lobby groups have traditionally been the
most vocal critics of drug policy reform. In this instance, however,
they should choose their responses carefully. At stake is the very
credibility of these organizations. They risk being remembered in the
same light as President Mbeki, for it is clear that the new AIDS
denialism is the failure to acknowledge the realities of HIV transmission.

The Vienna Declaration will play a significant role in HIV policy,
and I am proud to have signed the document online at viennadeclaration.com.

I can only hope that my colleagues in law enforcement will be
inspired to do the same.