The drug war is a public health crisis. The high incidence of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and C among intravenous drug users and their partners are direct results of zero tolerance laws that restrict access to clean syringes. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 57% of AIDS cases among women are linked to injection drug use or sex with partners who inject drugs. Overall, 36% of AIDS cases in the United States can be traced back to intravenous drug use. When politics trumps science, people die.

The drug war has failed to keep drugs out of prisons, much less schools. The criminal-justice approach to problem drug use only exacerbates the problem. Not only is HIV and Hepatitis B and C spread within prison walls, but correctional facilities serve as incubators for diseases such as tuberculosis and syphilis, diseases many public health experts erroneously thought would be eradicated by modern medicine. In addition to facilitating the spread of disease, the drug war increases the risk of overdose death.

The ecstasy variant known as PMA that has been taking the lives of youth around the world is today's version of Prohibition era bathtub gin. The overdose victims thought they were buying ecstasy, but the illicit market has no controls for quality or age. Potentially lethal adulterants are not the only concern. The purity of street drugs fluctuates tremendously. A heroin user accustomed to low-quality heroin who unknowingly uses near pure heroin will likely overdose.

Needle exchange programs, safe-injection rooms and drug maintenance therapies have all been proven to reduce overdose deaths and the spread of communicable disease. The pressing need for public health alternatives to a punitive drug war is best exemplified by comparing HIV rates among states and/or countries. In the U.S., New Jersey has some of the toughest laws prohibiting needle exchanges and pharmacy syringe sales. Not coincidentally, New Jersey has some of the highest HIV rates in the country. In Europe, Spain was one of the last countries to introduce needle exchanges. Although Spain now operates syringe exchanges in prisons, the country has paid a price for its hesitancy to embrace harm reduction interventions. Spain has the highest prevalence of HIV among intravenous drug users (33.1%) in Europe.