Comments to Yahoo Parenting
Joseph A Califano, Jr., founder and chair of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, continues to compile extensive research and proactive solutions to avoid addiction. He suggests in his book, How to Raise a Drug-free Kid, that “a child who reaches age 21 without smoking, drinking or abusing drugs is virtually certain never to do so.” My sister died at 46 from alcohol-related medical complications. She started smoking marijuana and drinking long before 21. Our mission is to keep Laura’s memory alive, so we offer a Sobriety Pledge. 259 teens pledge to honor mind, body, and spirit without drugs or alcohol before 21 at Laura’s Pledge. We also offer drug/alcohol refusal skills. Analytics tell us that we receive 50 Sobriety Pledge webpage visits averaging 2 minutes each for every actual Sobriety Pledge. 1022 champions also celebrate 15,400 clean and sober years on our Sobriety Anniversary webpage. We remain grateful for over 100,000 webpage visits. We offer hope and help for anyone who chooses addiction prevention or recovery in one simple way through community. It helps me to make sense of Laura’s death.
Brad Mersereau