Why America's prison policy needs repair.

How parents can prevent teen drug abuse

The recent report of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University, Wasting the Best and the Brightest: Substance Abuse at America’s Colleges and Universities, reveals a disturbing ambiance of hedonistic self-indulgence and an alarming public health crisis on college campuses across this nation.

The 10th annual survey of 12- to 17-year-olds by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) has a loud and clear message: Parents, if you want to raise drug-free kids, you cannot outsource your responsibility to their schools or law enforcement. The odds are t

Like many divorced and remarried Catholics, I looked down on the church’s annulment process, viewing it as cover for Catholic divorce, a process tinged with hypocrisy, reserved for the rich and powerful. Then one day, Walter Modrys, S.J., my pastor at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola in Manha

When God and Caesar claim controlling jurisdiction over public policy in America, public servants who are Catholic can get caught between a religious rock and a public policy hard place. I know. I’ve been there. In 1965 Lyndon Johnson became the first president to support birth control as a pu

Despite promising statistics indicating recent declines in youth substance use, more than a quarter of high school girls currently smoke cigarettes and binge drink, almost half drink alcohol regularly, and one in five uses marijuana. Another 4 percent use cocaine and inhalants.A three-year study by

If ever the sum is greater than the parts, it is in combining the power of God, religion and spirituality with the power of science and professional medicine to prevent and treat substance abuse and addiction. That’s the good news from So Help Me God: Substance Abuse, Religion and Spirituality

For the first time in the nation’s various wars on drugs, the scientific, political and spiritual stars are aligned for a revolution to balance and strengthen all four legs of this country’s effort to tackle substance abuse and addiction: research, prevention, treatment and law enforceme

How about the following planks for a political party platform this November:1. Health care is a fundamental human right to which every American is entitled.2. The lack of safe affordable housing is a national crisis and such housing should be available to all on a non-discriminatory basis.3. The min