Tralee Pearce, Globe and Mail Jun. 24, 2010: Peer influence is known to be a major factor in whether teens binge-drink. But it turns out that parents play a part as well: A Brigham Young University study reveals that those with an authoritative, nurturing style were the least likely to have children who drink heavily. [Read more here.]

"Therefore, do not let sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its evil desires." (Rom 6:12)

Addictions are the closest thing in our day and age to slavery. Whether it involves drugs, sex, alcohol, gambling or other behaviors, addictions are a psychological and sometimes physical dependence on something. Without taking into account the morality of the subject of the addiction, scripture clearly portrays slavery to the mortal body as the antithesis of godly life. In Genesis 1:28, God’s first commands to man are to be His image-bearer in creation, subduing the earth and everything in it. How can we subdue the earth when we let it subdue us?

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health: For Immediate Release – June 11, 2008 (TORONTO): The economic burden of alcohol abuse costs each Canadian $463 per year. In fact, the direct health care costs for alcohol abuse in Canada exceed those of cancer.

Released today by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), the Avoidable Cost of Alcohol Abuse in Canada 2002 report estimates that, even under very conservative assumptions,implementing six reviewed interventions would result in cost savings of about $1 billion per year and a savings of about 800 lives, close to 26,000 years of life lost to premature death and more than 88,000 acute care hospital days in Canada per year. This pioneering study is Canada’s first systematic estimate of the avoidable costs of alcohol abuse, and the first study of its kind worldwide.

by Margret Kopala (with permission) First Appeared in the Ottawa Citizen - May 31, 2008

Leading the recent National Post debate on cannabis, columnist Barbara Kay can't have anticipated Vancouver's safe injection site, rather than legalized cannabis, would be the Trojan Horse for the legalization of all addictive drugs.

This week, the right of addicts to continue use of illicit drugs was upheld by the B.C. Supreme Court even though no treatment of which I am aware uses the substance that caused the problem to cure it. Smokers use nicotine gum, not more cigarettes, to kick the habit, don't steal to feed their habit and if heroine and cocaine are so helpful, why aren't doctors prescribing them in pill form?

At least we know something about cannabis. In fact we know a lot. And now a paper published in Nature places the medicinal, the harmful and the recreational aspects of cannabis in a perspective that has implications for how we treat all addictive substances.

The Final Report of an Expert Advisory Committee summarizing evidence-based research on the injection site in Vancouver has exposed it as a failure. It has also exposed the fallacy of the arguments used to support the site when it was first established in 2003.

The federal government should immediately withdraw its support for the site to indicate its willingness to learn from past mistakes, and to deal with the reality of the situation made apparent by the Advisory Committee’s report.

by Sharon L. Bratcher*

• “I think we should have a Bingo night to raise money for our community.”
• “All you spend is $1.00 on a ticket and you could win $1,000,000!”
• “Our organization is having a raffle to raise money for the handicapped; will you buy a ticket for only $1.00? You might win a 10 speed bicycle!”
• “I just won $2,000 in the lottery – isn’t that great?”

Often we have friends and neighbors and perhaps even relatives who participate in the lottery, raffles, or other types of games of chance. And among secular and some professing Christian groups, games of chance are popular fundraisers because they are a fairly easy way to raise a large amount of money fast.