I made it through. I've never been to prison, and I survived...and those two victories put me well ahead of too many of my old friends.

Why am I now enjoying the sunshine when they do not? It's not that I was in any way better or stronger than most of them, but I had a family that cared, and I got lucky; and I wonder how much better our nation would be if the billions now spent on incarceration were diverted to treatment and rehabilitation?

Every night at closing time the streets of England where filled with drunken and aggressive men and women, and the crime and violence occurring each and every night was disturbingly high. To dilute this nightly dispersal onto the streets, closing times and alcohol sales rules were relaxed; and one unexpected consequence of this new legislation has been a doubling in the numbers of people who with all night access to alcohol, drink themselves into the emergency room.

When a pregnant women abuses drugs - who has jurisdiction over her body?

With more than 2 million Americans currently incarcerated, and more than half of these are non violent drug offenders, we need to ask ourselves whether our drug incarceration policy is either sensible or humane. While it may be politically popular to announce ever longer sentencing for drug offences, this policy of jailing as a response to drugs in our communities is not having a positive impact on the level of drug use in our country, and costs an incredible amount of money to sustain.

Incredible new technology may soon be employed throughout the sewers of our nation, giving us a much better picture of drug use as it's happening in real time. Remarkable science...and with it the possibility for accurate targeted drug interventions in the communities that truly need them; and also a disturbing new law enforcement weapon in our continuing frenzy to fill new jails as fast as we can build them with ever more drug users.

Alcohol abuse impairs health, destabilizes families, and it's now proven linked with downward social mobility.

Literally billions of annual dollars are invested in beer and liquor marketing campaigns, and these advertising spots seem determined to influence a public perception that drinking makes you better looking, more successful, and more fun to be around...and the people most vulnerable to these untruthful subliminal messages are our kids.

A 93 year old North Carolina man sits behind bars after his arrest for cocaine. Hollywood starlets roam free even after repeat DUI convictions...

When beer companies run public service ads urging us to drink responsibly...are we really supposed to believe that they are urging us to buy and drink less beer? And if that's not actually what they want, why do they run public service ads - and why do we let them?