Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jan 2016
Source: New York Times (NY)
Copyright: 2016 The New York Times Company
Contact: http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/lettertoeditor.html
Website: http://www.nytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/298
Author: Scott Campbell
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n032/a07.html

THE HEAVY TOLL OF DRUG OVERDOSES

To the Editor:

Your article says the United States has not seen death rates among 
young white adults so high "since the end of the AIDS epidemic more 
than two decades ago."

Not only is the AIDS epidemic not over - 50,000 people in the United 
States are newly infected every year - but the rise in drug abuse is 
spawning a new generation of H.I.V. infections, most recently in 
Indiana and Kentucky.

We cannot ignore the spike in deaths from overdoses. But neither can 
we be blind to the direct correlation between drug abuse and H.I.V.-AIDS.

The communities that face these issues are one and the same, and 
there is more that we can do to address both epidemics. H.I.V. may be 
a virus and drug abuse linked to addiction - but these are issues of 
social justice. It will take compassion and conversation to see an end to both.

SCOTT CAMPBELL

New York

The writer is the executive director of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom