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“I think people are really starting to question the war on drugs,” said Wood, lead researcher at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and chair of the Vienna Declaration.

“I think globally we’re seeing a real shift in terms of public opinion and a recognition that addiction should be treated more as a health issue rather than a criminal justice issue.”

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Wood said that while HIV infection rates are falling around the globe, the number of cases appears to be rising in countries with aggressive policies for prosecuting drug related crimes.

He argues the war on drugs actually helps spread HIV in several ways.

It often forces addicts into hiding and out of the reach of health officials who can help protect them from the terrible dangers posed by intravenous drug use, he said.

The data clearly shows, he added, that the HIV virus is spreading among prison inmates who mainline drugs.

Injection drug use accounts for one-third of new HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa, according to the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.

The centres estimate there are currently 34 million people worldwide living with HIV.

So far, the war on drugs has cost the U.S. economy more than $1-trillion, and each case of AIDS can cost the Canadian taxpayer about $500,000 in medical costs, Wood said.

When asked how successful the new campaign is likely to be in convincing American political leaders, Wood noted that economic times are tough and some states are now spending more money on incarceration than on education.