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Editoral: Complacency strikes drug users on AIDS Times-Picayune, New Orleans: The development of new treatments for AIDS represents a triumph of medical research, but this scientific miracle also has produced some unexpected pitfalls. It's wonderful that so many HIV-positive people are leading healthy lives thanks to complex drug regimens. But because some people perceive that AIDS is no longer a death sentence, they feel less motivated to avoid such risky behaviors as drug use and unprotected sex. A new study conducted at Johns Hopkins University has given public health experts yet another reason to worry. Researchers told HealthDay News ... that intravenous drug users in Baltimore who think that AIDS is treatable are less likely to use condoms during sex and less likely to seek out sterile needles. The survey produced some other alarming statistics: Two-thirds of sexually active participants in the Johns Hopkins study say they engage in unprotected sex, and half say they share needles with other users. These factors go a long way toward explaining why infection rates among IV drug users have not declined, as they have for some other groups at risk of contracting HIV. The first priority is to increase opportunities for rehabilitation so that IV drug users have the chance to break their addictions. But it's also obvious that public health officials need to intensify efforts to inform IV drug users in particular of the continuing danger that HIV poses. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -