Two years ago, Joseph Hooley, Chief Executive officer of Boston’s State Street Corporation launched Boston Workforce Investment Network (Boston WINs) to strengthen the city’s workforce by teaching disadvantaged young men and women the ways of business. Through his work with local philanthropy, particularly as an active supporter and a board member of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Hooley became convinced that if he could help fix just one problem in the world, it would be urban … [Read more...]

I’m okay with President Trump’s plan to build a wall to help keep out illegal aliens, but I don’t think it will have much of an impact on drug smuggling as long as the demand for drugs exists. The United States tried for 12 years to keep Americans from drinking alcohol by making it a crime and a violation of the Constitution, but gave up in 1934. The focus should instead be on reducing the nation’s demand for drugs, a tall order but doable, and I am glad to see the President’s interest in … [Read more...]

  President Donald Trump and New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, are having conversations about dealing with America’s drug problem. Both men bring something to the table. Trump, whose late brother, Fred, was an alcoholic, doesn’t drink, and Christi, a lawyer, was a prosecutor of drug dealers and developed a passion for putting them out of business. So both men know something about the subject of addiction. Recent history tells us that national “Wars on Drugs” initiatives … [Read more...]

                        Jimmy Merritt ruled by intimidation. He didn’t seek respect, he sought fear, and when he threatened to hurt you, it was not an empty threat. Most of the time he got what he wanted, and sometimes it cost him. He was shot and stabbed more than once. And once someone put enough sodium pentothal in his drink to kill him, but he survived. Merritt also did three stretches in … [Read more...]

    On Dec 13, 1934 a failed stockbroker named Bill Wilson was struggling with alcoholism at a New York City detox center. It was his fourth stay at the center and nothing had worked. This time he tried a remedy called the belladonna cure—infusions of an hallucinogenic drug made from a poisonous plant--and he consulted a friend named Ebby Thatcher who told him to give up drinking and give his life over to the service of God. Wilson was not a believer, but later that night, … [Read more...]