Document 0689
 DOCN  M95A0689
 TI    Forthcoming study says 3 of 4 new HIV infections are drug-related.
 DT    9510
 SO    AIDS Policy Law. 1995 Mar 24;10(5):1-2. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       AIDS/95700232
 AB    According to an unpublished study by the Centers for Disease Control and
       Prevention (CDC), drug use is linked to nearly three-quarters of new HIV
       infections. Many of the infections are a result of sharing contaminated
       needles, but an increasing number are linked to crack cocaine addicts
       and other drug users who contract HIV through unprotected sex and pass
       the virus on to others the same way. According to researcher Dr. Scott
       Holmberg, as many as half of the new infections among heterosexuals are
       a result of crack cocaine use. Holmberg's findings present a different
       picture of the epidemic from what the CDC's AIDS caseload reports show.
       CDC statistics show that roughly half of the people diagnosed with AIDS
       in 1994 were gay or bisexual men, including some who injected drugs.
       Injection drug use among heterosexuals was the second largest category.
       However, those figures reflect infections that occurred perhaps eight or
       ten years ago. Holmberg's data and analyses involve new infections,
       those that took place in 1994. Researchers and activists speculate that
       the study could alter government policies on preventing HIV and drug
       abuse.
 DE    Bisexuality  Crack Cocaine  Diacetylmorphine  Female  HIV
       Infections/COMPLICATIONS/*EPIDEMIOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Health Policy
       Homosexuality, Male  Human  Male  Substance Abuse,
       Intravenous/*COMPLICATIONS  NEWSLETTER ARTICLE

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       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).