Simple Gifts

In March of 2009, the Institute of Medicine issued a new report on the Prevention of Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders Among Young People.¹ Fundamentally, the report calls for ending the ration of prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders among America’s youth and young adults. Continued rationing of access to scientifically proven prevention causes a serious threat to the country’s national security² and to our economic competitiveness compared to 22 other rich countries.³ Such ...

PREVENTION FOR EVERYONE:
A Strategy for Deficit Reduction & Health Care Cost Containment 

The prevention of mental, emotional and behavioral disorders is possible, and such prevention is also highly cost-efficient for economic, health, safety and free-enterprise conditions of America. The recent Institute of Medicine Report (March, 2009)on the Prevention of Mental, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (MEB) presents a compelling summary of the evidence for how many of America’s human ills can be easily and cost-effectively prevented.1 We can ...

So imagine you are in a room two blocks from the US Capitol.  Imagine about a hundred leading scientists and prevention specialists in the world are in that room.

That is the situation I was in a few weeks ago.

I asked everyone to imagine that they had $100, with the instruction to go out on the street buy alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs. I said, “How long will it take you to bring back tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs ...