Prescription Drugs Growing Problem on Campus
About half of U.S. college students binge drink or abuse drugs, and the number who abuse prescription medication such as painkillers is up sharply, according to a study by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University in New York.

"I think we have, by almost any standard, a serious public health problem on college campuses. And it's deteriorating," says Joseph Califano, who heads the center and served as U.S. health secretary from 1977 to 1979.

The report found that 49 percent of full-time college students ages 18 to 22 binge drink (consuming five or more drinks at a time), or abuse prescription drugs such as painkillers or illegal drugs like cocaine and marijuana. That translates to 3.8 million students.

From 1993 to 2005, the proportion of students who abuse prescription painkillers rose more than 300 percent, to 3.1 percent (about 240,000 students), the report said. During the same period, daily marijuana use more than doubled to 4 percent (310,000 students). Overall use of other illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin rose by half to 8.2 percent (636,000 students).

100 Million Unchurched in America
One out of every three adults (33%) is unchurched -- meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months. This represents approximately 73 million adults, plus 27 million teens and children for a total of roughly 100 million Americans. The calculations come from a 2007 survey by the Barna Research Group.

Christian Groups Battle for Recognition
The Christian Law Students' Association faces another challenge for one of its chapters as it was recently denied recognition on campus at Pace Law School in White Plains, NY. The school has said the group's beliefs remain too narrow, even after it made alterations to its constitution after the school refused to recognize them last year on the grounds of discrimination toward homosexuals. The Pace rejection comes after several other schools including Georgetown, UW-Madison and Southern Illinois have recently been challenged for barring Christian student groups. (Christianpost.com, February 5, 2007)