In the news

State liquor laws in the news:

Gregoire "open" to the idea of privatized liquor sales (Seattle PI)

Liquor system needs reforming despite votes on initiatives (The Bellingham Herald)

Perhaps "no" really meant "no" on liquor sales (The News Tribune)

Monitoring the Future in the news:

Though I blogged about this before, here is a link to what appeared in the Seattle PI: Teen pot smoking at 30-year high. Someone who posted a comment after the PI article noted that nobody is talking about how youth alcohol and tobacco use rates have decreased. Considering I had blogged about accentuating the positive in communities right before I blogged about increasing rates of youth marijuana use, I took that comment to heart. Communities across the nation have focused quite a bit on preventing youth alcohol and tobacco use and these successes should be recognized and celebrated. Prevention does work!

National drug policy in the news:

Questions for the Drug Czar (The Nation) Here's an excerpt in which Gil Kerlikowke talks about prevention:

I do not underestimate people's frustrations or strong feelings about a lack of success in the war on drugs, whether in the US or worldwide. It's been going on forty-five years, yet people still know their child can get drugs in high school, that their neighborhood has drug dealing, or they have a friend or neighbor or co-worker impacted by drugs. Where we have so clearly failed is not helping people understand there are very cost-effective, basic ways of working through prevention, understanding treatment can be effective and it's half the cost of incarceration. We don't have to throw up our hands as a nation and say the war on drugs has failed and therefore we have to go for legalization. We should look at these other prevention and treatment issues.

Mental health in the news:

Serious mental health needs seen growing at colleges (New York Times) Alcohol and drug abuse are included in the mental health needs discussed in this article.