Drugs and Politics

DRUGS AND THE FAMILYDon Browning
Professor of Ethics and the Social Sciences, Divinity School
Browning is an expert on families. “It has been documented that parents spend half the time with their children as they did 30 years ago. This means that teenagers are less supervised and peer pressure is more powerful. Teenagers are experimenting with drugs, sex–you name it–and adults don’t know what’s going on.” Browning is Director of the University’s Religion, Culture and the Family Project funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc. He is an ordained minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Contact: Jennifer Vanasco, (773) 702-4195.

NICOTINE ADDICTIONJames Zacny
Assistant Professor and Researcher in the Pritzker School of Medicine’s drug-abuse research center
Zacny has done extensive studies of the potential for addiction to drugs such as nicotine and of the frequent combination of nicotine and alcohol. A faculty member in the departments of Anesthesia & Critical Care and Psychiatry, he studies the abuse and addiction potential of opiates and other drugs.

Contact: John Easton, (773) 702-6241.

DRUG ABUSEAlan Ravitz
Associate Professor of Psychiatry and specialist in adolescent behavior, Pritzker School of Medicine
Ravitz is in charge of the substance abuse education program at the Francis Parker School. He is also Director of Inpatient Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the medical school. Ravitz is available after 3:30 p.m. today.

Contact: John Easton, (773) 702-6241.