Injection Drug Use and HIV/AIDS: Legal and Ethical Issues/L'injection de drogue et le VIH/sida: questions juridiques et ethiques Books In Print
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Injection Drug Use and HIV/AIDS: Legal and Ethical Issues/L'injection de drogue et le VIH/sida: questions juridiques et ethiques

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, 484 McGill St., Montreal, Quebec H2Y 2H2. 116p. ISBN 1-896735-26-6. Write for price.
Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. 1999.

Canada, as with the rest of the world, is trying to cope with the increase in injection drug use and HIV/AIDS. "The number of HIV infections and AIDS cases attributable to injection drug use has been climbing steadily." The sharing of needles, spoons/cookers, filters, and water are known to increase HIV infections. Those who use drugs perform unsafe sex, creating a problem for all people, but particularly women, street youth, prisoners, and Aboriginal people. This report prepared by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network is the result of three national workshops held between November, 1997 and March, 1999. Seven priority issues were analyzed:

1. "What is the impact of the current legal status of drugs and drug use on efforts to prevent HIV infection among injection drug users and on the provision of care, treatment, and support to drug users with HIV/AIDS?"

2. "What legal and ethical issues arise in circumstances in which illegal drug use is permitted in the course of providing health care and social services--primary health care, community clinics, pharmacy services, residential care, palliative care, housing services--to drug users?"

3. "Is it legal and ethical to make cessation of drug use a condition for treatment of a drug user?"

4. "What legal and ethical issues arise in the context of prescribing opiates and controlled stimulants to drug users in Canada?"

5. "What legal and ethical issues are raised by (a) the absence of clinical trials on the impact of illegal drugs on the immune system; (b) the absence of research on the interactions between HIV/AIDS drugs and illegal drugs; and (c) the exclusion of drug users from clinical trials involving HIV/AIDS drugs?"

6. "What are the legal and ethical grounds for ensuring that health-care providers, drug users, and the general public have accurate and complete information on illegal drugs and their effects?"

7." What legal and ethical considerations should be taken into account when implementing needle exchange and methadone maintenance programs directed at reducing the harms from drug use?"

This is an excellent report that provides the groundwork for more study as well as providing the legal community information that should be considered in working with injection drug users. This is a difficult community to work with. Society can be very cruel. These individuals are breaking laws throughout the world but to leave them untreated is only increasing the risks for those who associate with them. This report should be in all legal libraries as well as all academic libraries.

Keywords: Injection Drugs; Drug Use; TreatmentsKWDinjectiondrugs;druguse;treatments
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