“In the face of a growing number of deaths and cases of HIV linked to drug abuse, the Portuguese government in 2001 tried a new tack to get a handle on the problem—it decriminalized the use and possession of heroin, cocaine, marijuana, LSD and other illicit street drugs. The theory: focusing on treatment and prevention instead of jailing users would decrease the number of deaths and infections.
Five years later, the number of deaths from street drug overdoses dropped from around 400 to 290 annually, and the number of new HIV cases caused by using dirty needles to inject heroin, cocaine and other illegal substances plummeted from nearly 1,400 in 2000 to about 400 in 2006, according to a report released recently by the Cato Institute.” (Read more from sciam.com)
Decriminalization would do a lot more to decrease hiv incidence than just through reducing use of dirty needles. personally, i think incarceration is/should be one of the most important public health issues there is in the US…
hiv incidence in prisons are tremendous, partly due to dirty needles, but also unprotected sex (condoms are contraband!) and rape. so, hiv+ prisoners get hiv meds while incarcerated, then get released into the public with no job, insurance, resources, and rarely access to consistent meds… this is how multidrug resistant strains get bred. and, ive heard that preliminary data does show that the incidence of mdr new infections in communities with high prison reentry rates is very high.
i could go on and on on this topic but ill stop here :)