THE ATLANTA ONSTITUTION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1991 ry "9 4 tT WJ {a mf Hy AIDS, drug:use: twin:epidemics One-third of all U.S..AIDS cases are related to intravenous use. charts below track how. AIDS cases linked to cn use nes neon by gender, race and ethnicity: * ad op G ooo '83'84'85'86 'S7 '88°69'90 “includes intravenous drug use emong heterosexuals; male homosexual . and/or bisexual contect and intravenous drug use, and heterosexual sex with an intravenous drug user. ;- Source: Centers for Disease Control, National Commission on AIDS 3 8 PA) Paik t PA sispanics 2.855 ob Whites: - 682 ee a - ©. 33°64 '85°88'S7 ES "S990 py: Recognizing drug abuse link is key to AIDS fight, panel says By Andrew Mollison Joumal-Constrtution Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — A commis- sion appointed by the White House and Congress urged Tues- day the legalization of needles, syringes and other drugs para- phernalia as a necessary step toward cutting the spread of AINS. The ..aliOha: CUMmmMmUssion on saa, wiliUis uciuucs rice anu Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan, also said inadequate headway is being made in the war against AIDS because the government has not fully appre- tiated the disease s connection to drug addiction. The commission’s recom- mendations: >» Encourage addicts to trade used needles for clean needles and bleach. This cuts AIDS risks, while bringing them into contact with counselors who could get them to seek treatment. » Legalize the purchase and phernalia as syringes, needles, cookers, cotton and rinse water, all af whieh can cnranad contam- nauon. in 11 states ‘the verv reai fear that clean syringes and bleach vials will be used as evi- dence for arrest and prosecution may be having a ‘chilling effect’ on drug users’ practice of safer injection behaviors ” > freat ali drug abusers wno seek treatment. Addicts cannot Please see AIDS, Ad AIDS: Group recommend oie clean neecles ¢o nation’s » Continued from AL Walt ‘inti erfect treatment methods are found. ana it :s medicaily unsound to teil some- one with a fatai disease, ‘Go awav, we'll treat vou ijater ” > Change the grants system SO agencies fighting drug abuse and those ‘ighting AIDS have incentives to cooperate instead of seeking separate grants. > Reverse planned funding cuts for research. Spend more finding out details of why and how the soread and progression 3f the HIV virus ts junked to use and abuse of legat and ulegat drugs. > To reach poor peopie who aren't getting the word on how °2 avoid AIDS, feed them ana house them. “It’s hard to edu- caté a woman who is homeless and hungry,” Sandra Vining- Bethea of the Bridgeport Wom- en's Project told the com- mission. The :S-memoer panel, which incluaes U.S. Rep. J. Roy Rowland, a Democrat from Dublin. reported that 32 percent of all AIDS cases in the Unitea States are relatea to intrave- nous drug use, a major contnib- utor to the AIDS epidemic, but that this linkage has not been acknowledged by ‘ederal agencies. Most of those cases ire caused directly bv addicts snar- ng contaminated neeales. and others indirectly, by unsafe sex with an HIV-infected person or being born to a mother who has AIDS. The commission concluded that the government has not ac- Knowledged the enormity of the link between drug addiction and AIDS and that it must be dealt with more positively. “f am forced to have sex with approximately 10 men per day to support my habit, which iS putting me at risk of further HIV infection, sexually trans- mitted diseases and rape or death,” said Yvette, a woman with a $150-a-day heroin and crack habit cited in the report. “What I want to tell you 1s that if I had been accepted into a drug treatment program three years ago, I would not be situng here in front of you today telling you that [ am HIV-infected.” she told the commission, which withheld her last name. Infection with the HIV virus leads to AIDS. About 116.000 of the 182,000 Amencans ident- fied as having ATDS have died. S providing drug addicts “The current national ap- sroacn to the propiems of sub- stance use !s to deal with those ‘who are addicted ormarily by means of the criminal Justice system.” the commission said. “Cleariy, this approach is not working, and a public health ap- proach 1s desperately needed.” That stand “distorts the ad- ministration’s position on ex- Danding and improving drug -reatment,” responded former Florida Gov. Bob Martinez. nead of President Bush’s Office of Nationa: Drug Abuse Policy. He said the commuission’s re- port lacks “clear scienufic evi- dence” that needle exchanges reduce risk-taking behavior by drug abusers. Instead. the com- mission relied on testimony from police and medical wit- nesses in several cities. Mr. Martinez said the com- mission should have stressed that federai spending on drug ‘reatment rose from $697 mil- lion in 1988 to the $1.7 bullion Mr. Bush has requested for next vear. Mr. Martinez did not men- 710n that anti-drug spending for -nterdicton and law enforce- nent rose even faster, with an 38 billion request for the next riscal vear