Looking deeply into drug addiction therapy programs seems a bit like an old staple in crusading journalism – undertaking to investigate nursing homes. One knows the stories will be sad, probably infuriating, and will ask the reader to slog through reminders of some intractable difficulties of life as a human being. The lead piece in Science Times, a long look by Benedict Carey at drug addiction in Oregon and at the state’s effort to professionalize its therapy, turns out to be a more encouraging read than one expects. In his telling, agencies there are doing as good a job as one could expect at documenting which programs work, at applying the lessons broadly, and at suggesting that addiction can be curbed significantly by wise application of our tax dollars. Notable also is the piece’s sensitive sketches of people whose lives careered out of control as alcohol and drugs set in.
Elsewhere: At his grab bag of shorts, The Observatory, Henry Fountain’s lineup includes several that stand out for their surprise or counter to intuition including the pestiferous penalties of vast farms for ethanol, and why a more acidic ocean’s perils go far beyond coral reef dissolution (think squid).

Other Notable Science Times headlines:

• Claudia Dreifus (Q&A) : A Conversation With Mahmoud A. Elsohly / Growing Marijuana With Government Money  ;
• Kenneth Chang, Andrew C. Revkin : At a Sleek Bioenergy Lab, a Lens on a Cabinet Pick ; see separate post, below, on Obama science team news.
• Natalie Angie : A Highly Evolved Propensity for Deceit : (pic is of, metaphorically, Bernard “Ponzi scheme” Madoff et al) ;
• Guy Gugliotta : Mapping Celestial Terrains, in All Their 3-D Glory ; (nice images of lumpy asteroids) ;
• Donald G. McNeil Jr: Malaria Drug May Soon Be Set for U.S. Debut ; Fascinating details in here on FDA’s labyrinths, including why armed guards at a medical convention kept U.S. doctors from going into one booth ;

As usual, lots more. Whole section ;

SPEAKING OF THE NYTIMES: While other newspapers are mostly laying people off and abandoning specialty beats the Times is trying to focus its efforts even better. On the global environment/climate change beat it has formed an entirely new unit, or pod. The paper pulled reporters from its science, biz, national, and foreign desks plus the Washington bureau. In charge will be longtime behavior writer and science-desk editor Erica Goode (and – disclosure – the Tracker’s former SF Chronicle colleague and later boss at USNews). She will be editing and supervising a staff that, according to a memo from management, comprises Andy Revkin, Cory Dean, Felicity Barringer, Leslie Kaufman, Libby Rosenthal, Mia Navarro, and Matt Wald. This is a heavyweight lineup.

-CP

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