(UKPA)
Governments around the world have failed in their war on drugs and fuelled a pandemic in HIV, a leading think tank has said.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy criticised nations for imprisoning non-violent drug users and for driving them away from public health services.
In its report, The War On Drugs And HIV/AIDS – How The Criminalisation Of Drug Use Fuels The Global Pandemic, the commission condemns “the remarkable failure of drug law enforcement policies” in cutting the world drug supply.
The global supply of illicit opiates, such as heroin, has risen by more than 380% in recent decades, said the commission.
The report’s authors praise countries where “addiction is treated as a health issue” such as Australia, Portugal and Switzerland, where newly diagnosed HIV infections have been nearly eliminated among drug users.
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