CANADA SHOULD FOLLOW OWN RULES

Your June 8 editorial made the common mistake of confusing
drug-related crime with prohibition-related crime. For addictive
drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts
to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war
doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. 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. 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. Can Canada afford to
emulate the harm maximization drug policies of the former land of the
free and current record holder in citizens incarcerated?

Robert Sharpe