Jake asks if I believe it is OK for professional athletes to use performance enhancing drugs. My answer is that I do not believe it should be illegal for adults to use performance enhancing substances. However I completely support the right of organizations such as the MLB, NFL, etc prohibiting their use amongst its players. As private organizations they are free to set whatever rules they want in their contracts and athletes are free to accept or reject the terms.

Lou asks how I can explain South Africa's rampant HIV infection rates (with their lax drug laws) given my statement that strict drug laws in Russia and China have augmented the HIV epidemics there. The answer lies in the characteristics of the epidemic in South Africa. In South Africa, the spread of HIV is fostered chiefly through heterosexual transmission. While injection drug use may play a minor role, sexual spread is paramount. In general, when a nation drives its drug users underground through prohibition as in, simple steps that could curb the spread of HIV become harder to implement because the medical community has less access to drug users. Interventions such as needle exchange, for example, are much harder in the setting of onerous laws.