- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Faculty Research and Publications /
- HIV, drugs and the legal environment
Open Collections
UBC Faculty Research and Publications
HIV, drugs and the legal environment Strathdee, Steffanie A.; Beletsky, Leo; Kerr, Thomas
Abstract
A large body of scientific evidence indicates that policies based solely on law enforcement without taking into account public health and human rights considerations increase the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and their communities. Although formal laws are an important component of the legal environment supporting harm reduction, it is the enforcement of the law that affects PWIDs' behavior and attitudes most acutely. This commentary focuses primarily on drug policies and policing practices that increase PWIDs' risk of acquiring HIV and viral hepatitis, and avenues for intervention. Policy and legal reforms that promote public health over the criminalization of drug use and PWID are urgently needed. This should include alternative regulatory frameworks for illicit drug possession and use. Changing legal norms and improving law enforcement responses to drug-related harms requires partnerships that are broader than the necessary bridges between criminal justice and public health sectors. HIV prevention efforts must partner with wider initiatives that seek to improve police professionalism, accountability, and transparency and boost the rule of law. Public health and criminal justice professionals can work synergistically to shift the legal environment away from one that exacerbates HIV risks to one that promotes safe and healthy communities.
Item Metadata
Title |
HIV, drugs and the legal environment
|
Creator | |
Date Issued |
2014-09-16
|
Description |
A large body of scientific evidence indicates that policies based solely on law enforcement without taking into account public health and human rights considerations increase the health risks of people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and their communities. Although formal laws are an important component of the legal environment supporting harm reduction, it is the enforcement of the law that affects PWIDs' behavior and attitudes most acutely. This commentary focuses primarily on drug policies and policing practices that increase PWIDs' risk of acquiring HIV and viral hepatitis, and avenues for intervention. Policy and legal reforms that promote public health over the criminalization of drug use and PWID are urgently needed. This should include alternative regulatory frameworks for illicit drug possession and use. Changing legal norms and improving law enforcement responses to drug-related harms requires partnerships that are broader than the necessary bridges between criminal justice and public health sectors. HIV prevention efforts must partner with wider initiatives that seek to improve police professionalism, accountability, and transparency and boost the rule of law. Public health and criminal justice professionals can work synergistically to shift the legal environment away from one that exacerbates HIV risks to one that promotes safe and healthy communities.
|
Subject | |
Geographic Location | |
Genre | |
Type | |
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2017-01-23
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0340632
|
URI | |
Affiliation | |
Citation |
Strathdee, S. A., Beletsky, L., & Kerr, T. (2015). HIV, drugs and the legal environment. The International Journal on Drug Policy, 26(0 1), S27–S32.
|
Publisher DOI |
10.1016/j.drugpo.2014.09.001
|
Peer Review Status |
Reviewed
|
Scholarly Level |
Faculty; Researcher
|
Rights URI | |
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International