Experts: Misguided policies that criminalize drug users fuel AIDS epidemic

Experts urge reform of global drug policy

VIENNA — Experts preparing for an international conference are saying policies that criminalize drug users fuel the spread of AIDS and should be reformed.

Experts from the International AIDS Society, the International Center for Science in Drug Policy and the British Columbia Center for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, as well as others, say policies should be based instead on scientific evidence and should remove barriers to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care.

The so-called Vienna Declaration was released Monday in the lead-up to an international AIDS conference that gets under way in the Austrian capital on July 18.