<ing>The Drug-AIDS Hypothesis

Peter Duesberg (1) and David Rasnick (2)
(1) Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, 229 Stanley Hall, UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, phone (510) 642-6549, fax (510) 643-6455, email: duesberg@uclink4.berkeley.edu

(2) Resident AIDS investigator at UC Berkeley, 229 Stanley Hall, UC Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720, phone (510) 642-6549, fax (415) 826-1241, email: rasnick@mindspring.com

Original Publication
Continuum Feb./March 1997

Author Tag	Publisher Tag	Topic Tag

Author Tag	Publisher Tag	Topic Tag
#Peter Duesberg #David Rasnick	#Continuum	#Risk Hypothesis #Drugs-Hypothesis

Abstract

The war on the new AIDS epidemic has been a complete failure in terms of public health benefits: 50,000 to 75,000 Americans develop AIDS per year and over $8 billion are spent annually on AIDS research and treatment by the US taxpayer alone, but there is no vaccine, and no effective drug, and not one AIDS patient has been cured. It is proposed here that this failure is the responsibility of the hypothesis that AIDS is caused by a virus named HIV. This hypothesis has monopolized AIDS research and treatment since 1984, but it neither explains nor predicts numerous AIDS facts, nor has it produced any public health benefits. In order to solve AIDS we propose here the drug-AIDS hypothesis. The drug hypothesis holds that all American AIDS diseases that exceed their normal low background are caused by the long-term consumption of recreational drugs, anti-HIV/AIDS drugs or both. This hypothesis is based on the only new health risk to emerge during the past 25 years in America and Europe: the drug epidemic. In America the consumers of recreational drugs such as cocaine, amphetamines, nitrite inhalants, and heroin soared from negligible numbers in the 1970s to currently 20 millions, or 8% of the population. In addition, over 200,000 HIV-positives take since 1987 daily prescriptions of inevitably toxic DNA chain-terminators such as AZT and simultaneously consume many other orthodox and unorthodox, toxic anti-HIV/AIDS medications. All AIDS facts confirm the drug hypothesis: 1) AIDS is new because the drug epidemic is; 2) over 95% of American AIDS patients are long-term users of recreational and anti-viral drugs, because drugs cause AIDS; 3) 9 out of 10 AIDS cases are males because they consume 90% of the drugs; 4) the age distributions of diseases and deaths from drugs and AIDS are both 25 to 54 years because drugs cause AIDS; 5) babies develop AIDS from sharing intravenous drugs with their mothers during pregnancy; 6) Kaposi's sarcoma as an AIDS disease is restricted to male homosexuals because they use carcinogenic nitrite inhalants as sexual stimulants almost exclusively (98%); 7) termination of drug use has prevented and has even cured pediatric, male homosexual and intravenous drug-AIDS cases. According to the drug-AIDS hypothesis AIDS is preventable by banning anti-HIV/AIDS drugs and by advertising the medical consequences of recreational drugs. Such a program could be as successful as the campaign that has reduced smoking 40% by advertising the medical consequences of tobacco use. The drug-AIDS hypothesis could save 50,000 to 75,000 lives per year, $8 billion that are annually spent unproductively on AIDS research and therapy based on the virus hypothesis, and much of the $15 billion that is annually spent on supply control in the failed War on Drugs by lowering demand with advertisements that drugs cause AIDS. The solution to AIDS and the drug epidemic is as close as a very affordable and testable, independent AIDS hypothesis.

Be bold in formulating hypotheses and humble in the presence of facts.
Oswald Avery (1)

2.1. The American/European AIDS epidemic.

2.2. The war on AIDS.

2.3. AIDS facts incompatible with the HIV-AIDS hypothesis.

2.4. Conclusions.