The estimated 10,000 addicts who live in the Downtown Eastside have the highest known rate of HIV transmission in the developed world. According to recent stats, 18.6 per cent of Downtown Eastside addicts developed HIV in a year.
This means that of 1,000 addicts presently free of HIV, 186 of them will contract the AIDS-related virus within 12 months. Or, put another way, in a little more than five years, ALL of that initial group are statistically destined to have HIV.
The vast majority of hard-core female addicts support their habits through prostitution sooner or later. (Likewise, many non-addicted prostitutes take up drugs sooner or later.) So don't fool yourself into thinking that just because you didn't meet your latest partner in the Downtown Eastside, she's not an addict.
And don't fool yourself into thinking you can tell anything. Most addicts manage to hide their habits from family, friends and co-workers for years. Deceiving a mark in the dark for an hour is easy. By the time non-users can spot a drug user, the odds are that she's been using for so many years that her odds of carrying HIV --- and Hepatitis and Gonnarea and Herpes, and... --- are very high.
Think about that next time you're dining at the Y.
This means that of 1,000 addicts presently free of HIV, 186 of them will contract the AIDS-related virus within 12 months. Or, put another way, in a little more than five years, ALL of that initial group are statistically destined to have HIV.
The vast majority of hard-core female addicts support their habits through prostitution sooner or later. (Likewise, many non-addicted prostitutes take up drugs sooner or later.) So don't fool yourself into thinking that just because you didn't meet your latest partner in the Downtown Eastside, she's not an addict.
And don't fool yourself into thinking you can tell anything. Most addicts manage to hide their habits from family, friends and co-workers for years. Deceiving a mark in the dark for an hour is easy. By the time non-users can spot a drug user, the odds are that she's been using for so many years that her odds of carrying HIV --- and Hepatitis and Gonnarea and Herpes, and... --- are very high.
Think about that next time you're dining at the Y.