Speaking about Thanksgiving weekend travel, President Obama warned jittery Americans to “be careful.” Somehow I don’t think that settled anyone’s nerves. We can do more, and it starts here at home. more

The drug addicts’ brain scans that Dr. Stephen Dewey takes appear in psychedelic shades of red, yellow, green and blue, each indicating a level of brain activity — or inactivity. Red means excited. Blue is dormant. Dewey is the laboratory director for behavioral and molecular neuro-imaging at the North Shore-LIJ Feinstein Institute for Medical Research. In that capacity, he’s put hundreds of addicts’ brains to the test — the positron emission tomography test, that is — seeking to understand precisely what happens to the mind when a pot smoker lights up or a heroin junkie shoots up. And, he has found, it isn’t pretty. more

State and local officials gathered at the Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow on Aug. 25 to call for harsher criminalization laws for the sale and use of K2, a street name for a type of synthetic marijuana that has become a popular recreational drug among young adults in recent years. more

I cherish a dreamy memory of Mexico. It was 1990, and we were on vacation in Zihuatanejo, then a sleepy fishing village, on the Pacific coast. more

I’m seeing good news on all fronts this week, primarily because I choose to. This is a quest: I am seeking the comfort of upbeat stories. more

The Bellmore-Merrick Community Parent Center and the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District will host a Drug Take-Back Day on Saturday, May 30, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Mepham High School, 2401 Camp Ave., Bellmore. more

What’s the biggest concern on Long Island today? Sure, property taxes and quality education are always on everyone’s mind, but right now the heroin epidemic that is threatening members of our community . . . more

Madeline Singas, Nassau County’s new acting district attorney, stopped by Herald Community Newspapers’ Garden City office last Thursday for a discussion with editors and reporters about the views, goals and strategies she brings to the job. The conversation touched on topics from gun violence to illegal drugs, police practices, public corruption and what Singas sees as the need for “smart prosecution,” from crime-prevention strategies to alternatives to jailing young, non-violent offenders. more

One of Long Island’s largest nonprofit substance-abuse treatment agencies received three grants this winter that officials said will help them teach young people about the dire consequences of … more

School-aged children can use someone to talk to. Someone they can share their thoughts, goals and fears with who genuinely cares and wants what’s best for them. more