Get the Book
How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents, written
by Joseph A. Califano, Jr., and published by Simon & Schuster's Touchstone/Fireside Division, is available for $15.00 (Canada $19.99).
Where to Buy
Order the original paperback book from these selected online retailers, or check with your local bookstore for availability.
Read the Table of Contents (PDF) or the Preface from the book.
All author royalties from the sale of the book are being donated to The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University.
News Flash
The Wyoming Department of Health has purchased a copy of How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid for every public library in the state. Read the AP news story.
What They Are Saying
“The book is practical, easy to use, packed with valuable information and survey data as well as needed advice and resources for concerned parents. ...Califano is a wise and reassuring guide, leading parents toward greater and more effective engagement with their children.” More
- America Magazine
“How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope For Parents is the definitive manual for any parent who wants to help his/her child make it.” More (PDF, 716 KB)
- Davler Media Group
“Based on nearly two decades of research at The National Center How on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope For Parents offers advice and information on how to prepare your child for crucial decision-making moments. It covers many of the most daunting parenting topics, including when and how to talk to your kids about drugs and alcohol; how to respond when your child asks, "Did you do drugs?"; how to know when your child is most at risk; and how to prepare your teen for the freedoms and perils of college.” More (PDF, 64 KB)
- Holy Cross Magazine
“As the school year approaches, there is one book to put on your school supplies list this fall. It is a book for parents titled How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid: The Straight Dope For Parents.”
- Westport News
“Straight-talk, clear guidance, a compelling message – all brought home in How to Raise a Drug Free Kid.”
- Harvey V. Fineberg, Md, PHD, President, Institute of Medicine of the National Acadamies of Science
“It will be a valuable resource to countless families.”
- Jimmy Carter, Former U.S. President
“This is exactly the kind of how-to manual parents need to understand why children and adolescents are tempted to use drugs and how to prevent it. I know this book will be an excellent tool in teaching parents that interest and involvement are vital in substance abuse prevention.”
- Ginger Beebe, First Lady of Arkansas
“This book is the best investment any parent can make.”
- Actor Kirk Douglas and his wife, Anne Douglas
“The book is plain-spoken, pragmatic in approach and I am certain it will be of inestimable value to many.”
- Alfred Goldstein
“This book is a significant accomplishment and a wonderful resource for parents.”
- Michael B. Lanahan, President, The Gordie Foundation
“How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid is a gem. In fact, it should be handed to all couples when they take their new-born home for the hospital.”
- Stanley Gitlow, MD
“This book by Califano - head of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and former U.S. secretary of health, education and welfare - couldn't be timelier. Or more urgent.” (More)
- Newsday
“How To Raise A Drug Free Kid: The Straight Dope for Parents is a remarkable and vitally important piece of work. I hope it will be widely read and put to good use. It is an invaluable tool for parents and their teens.”
- David A. Hamburg, MD, President, Institute of Medicine,
National Academy of Sciences, 1975-80;
President Emeritus, Carnegie Corporation of New York;
DeWitt Wallace Distinguished Scholar, Weill Cornell Medical College
“Teens and college students are surrounded by drugs and alcohol, in school, at play, even at home. As a physician specializing in adolescents, I know that since they have to deal with this problem, then as a parent so do you. How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid provides the practical advice and information that every parent needs. If you read only one book, this is the one.”
- Ralph I. Lopez, MD, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics,
Weill Medical College of Cornell, and author of The Teen Health Book:
A Parent's Guide to Adolescent Health and Well-Being
“A parent's tool box for today. An invaluable primer to help you help your children navigate the difficult and contradictory messages about drugs and alcohol.”
- Jamie Lee Curtis, mother, author of children's books and actress
“A must read for all parents to learn new ways to help their children grow up safe and drug free. Through its 9 facets of parental engagement, Joseph Califano's How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid gives parents proven, practical ways to constructively engage in the lives of their children and to use their "Parent Power" in order to be their child's strongest positive influence.”
- Chuck Saylors, President, National PTA
“Numerous studies show both the influence parents can have on their teens' behavior and the problems they have in exerting it. This wise, practical and well written book gives them the tools they need. I enthusiastically recommend it to parents.”
- Herbert D. Kleber, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Director,
Division of Substance Abuse, Columbia University
“You are to be congratulated for producing a well-written and now indispensable guidebook for parents. Everything that anyone would need to know, or think about, is there.”
- Rev, Edward A. Malloy, CSC, President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame
“I hope you can get How to Raise a Drug-Free Kid into all the book stores of the U.S.A.!”
- Rev. Michael J Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe
“Keeping our children safe and healthy needs to be a higher priority. I hope others will appreciate your message.”
- Thomas J. Wilson, Chairman, President and CEO, Allstate Insurance Company
