Stephen Harper Sign the Vienna Declaration!

"The criminalization of illicit drug users is fueling the HIV epidemic and has resulted in overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences. A full policy reorientation is needed." - Vienna Declaration
The "War on Drugs" is not working. Reducing the availability and use of drugs through law enforcement is not decreasing the number of drug users or improving public health, it is simply creating a stigma around drug use that has limited the development of policy combating the issues of drug abuse, such as harm reduction, prevention and treatment, including HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care.

The Vienna Declaration is the official declaration of the XVIII International AIDS Conference held in Vienna, Austria from July 18-23 2010. The Declaration focuses on the connection between improving illicit drug policy and improving public health. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS among illicit drug users, especially injecting drug users, continues to increase, instead of focusing on law enforcement solutions, the Vienna Declaration seeks to improve public health and safety by incorporating scientific evidence into illicit drug policy.
In light of the 2010 Vienna HIV/AIDS Conference, Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada, has announced the government of Canada will be investing in research and stopping the transmission of the disease from mother to child. This announcement ignores the keys issues in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The Canadian government has stated that they do not support the Vienna Declaration, in-spite of the overwhelming consensus in the scientific community. The Government of Canada still believes that the way to address the public health issues of illicit drug use is to prevent people from using drugs.

This is a call for Stephen Harper to sign the Vienna Declaration and to commit to implementing harm reduction, treatment and prevention measures in line with the Vienna Declaration into illicit drug policy. This is a call to all Canadians to pressure the Government of Canada to consciously evaluate current drug policies and reorient drug policy to actively reflect the community of users and implement services that help to reduce public harm, including the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Read the Vienna Declaration or check out http://www.aids2010.org/ AIDS 2010 to learn more.