For years, Harry B. Lebowitz spent the cocktail hour at his home in Delray Beach, Fla., sitting in his backyard overlooking a lake and smoking a joint while his partner relaxed with her vodka and club soda. Mr. Lebowitz, 69, a mostly retired businessman, qualified for a state medical marijuana card because he suffered from anxiety, sleep apnea and back pain. He credits cannabis with helping to wean him off several prescription drugs. Then came Covid-19, heightening both his anxiety and his boredom. "It was like the world stopped," Mr. Lebowitz said. "We're all suffering from some form of PTSD, all of us." [continues 1303 words]
ATLANTIC CITY -- THE mobile health van is parked outside the old stone church on Pennsylvania Avenue. It's a prime location for reaching this town's large population of drug users: The church houses a busy soup kitchen; there's a probation office across the street; adjacent Pacific Avenue has an active sex trade. A man with a goatee comes tapping at the window. "Do you have free condoms?" "Will you come in and be tested?" counters Scherri Rucker-Graves, the nurse administering HIV tests. [continues 685 words]