BLITZED AND ON THE DOLE

New data shows that one of every four welfare mothers abuse drugs or drink to excess, figures that seem certain to boost efforts in Congress to further restrict entitlements to women on the dole. Researchers at the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University who conducted the study argue that substance abuse prevention and treatment programs must be included in any welfare reform package if it is to be successful. The Clinton Administration has questioned the results though because government information places the number of mothers on the dole who have serious abuse problems at only 4.5 percent. About 4.2 million women with children receive welfare assistance.

Quotes of the Day »

RAY KELLY, New York City Police Commissioner, on the arrest of a New Jersey man in one of the nation's most baffling missing-children cases, the disappearance more than three decades ago of 6-year-old Etan Patz.
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