To the Editor: I find it tragically ironic that after so many years of cannabis prohibition - with the last 40 or so being especially intense - governments have decided to try to recoup some of their wasted billions on that effort via various regulatory schemes involving legalized medical marijuana. Government once vilified and hunted down users of marijuana as if they were dogs. Now it is trying to make money off of the same plant, with a perverse twist on the old saying, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Daniel Williams Bonita Springs, Fla. [end]
KALININGRAD, Russia - Alexander Dreizin runs an AIDS cafe for drug addicts. He serves up tea, sympathy and clean needles. His is a one-doctor battle against an epidemic that is marching through Russia on the back of a dramatic surge in drug use. From the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, AIDS has made speedy inroads against the futile resistance of underfunded hospitals and clinics. By year's end, officials at the federal AIDS Prevention and Cure Center in Moscow predict, at least 500,000 Russians will be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. [continues 611 words]
