Jan. 16, 1920 saw the ratification by congress of the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which established the prohibition of “intoxicating liquors” in the United States. … more

I will have been sober for exactly 32 years this week. It’s a joyful anniversary, one that I’m sharing only to inspire others who may need to quit drinking but don’t think they can. more

This Christmas, will a new Smith & Wesson be under your tree? more

The drug addicts’ brain scans that Dr. Stephen Dewey takes appear in psychedelic shades of red, yellow, green and blue, each indicating a level of brain activity — or inactivity. Red means excited. Blue is dormant. Dewey is the laboratory director for behavioral and molecular neuro-imaging at the North Shore-LIJ Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. In that capacity, he’s put hundreds of addicts’ brains to the test — the positron emission tomography test, that is — seeking to understand precisely what happens to the mind when a pot smoker lights up or a heroin junkie shoots up. And, he has found, it isn’t pretty. more

One of Long Island’s largest nonprofit substance-abuse treatment agencies received three grants this winter that officials said will help them teach young people about the dire consequences of … more

School-aged children can use someone to talk to. Someone they can share their thoughts, goals and fears with who genuinely cares and wants what’s best for them. more

I can’t explain precisely how I determined which college I would attend. The process was more art than science. more

Jeffrey Reynolds, the executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, said he will be resigning from the organization at the end of June to become the president and chief executive officer of the Family and Children’s Association, a move that Reynolds said was “the most difficult decision I’ve made in my life.” more

With heroin claiming the lives of hundreds in Nassau and Suffolk counties over the past two years, police are stepping up enforcement measures. In February, nine were arrested in the so-called … more

The murder of Lauren Daverin-Gresham in Rockville Centre late last month once again pointed up a recurring problem: We often overlook our teenagers. more