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Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

arstechnica.com

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Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#81

Post by GeoAtreides »

conductr wrote: post #35
ikmckenz wrote: post #13

Teens aren't doing drugs, smoking, drinking, or having sex. And the suicide rate has never been higher.

I've had is persisting thought that, we as a society have been delaying adulthood, thus extending childhood, with each decade for a while. And we've now pushed it so far that the current cohort of teens simply are effectively young children on a social/emotion perspective making them unprepared to handle the stresses their age is exposing them to.

The age of majority should be the end of a journey, not a bureaucratic milestone.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#82

Post by Nextgrid »

prerok wrote: post #15
smartmic wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. And what about the psychosocial consequences, will it be an improvement compared to the other substances? I doubt it.

While I don't think smartphone addiction should be taken lightly, it's still a far cry from substance abuse.

Substance abuse is pretty much universally understood to be wrong (including by the addicts themselves, but they lack the help to get out of it).

Social media usage on the other hand has been normalized and now humanity's social fabric is in the control of a few companies who are happy to rent it out to the highest bidder. This has obvious implications regarding democracy, surveillance, misinformation, etc.

From a society perspective, I'll take substance/alcohol abuse any day because it appears to be self-regulating at a level that while is higher than we'd like, is much lower than what it takes to destabilize society and democracy.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#83

Post by rolph »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #6

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Tek comes to mind

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TekWar

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#84

Post by pkaye »

mschuster91 wrote: post #30

"surprising experts", LOL It was clear ever back when the Dutch decriminalised weed that its normalisation led to youth not being that much interested any more, and so it was everywhere else where weed was legalised decades later. But hey, just because the Dutch have had decades of experience, the rest of the world still isn't able to learn from them. It's time to end the war on drugs, once and for all. And DARE etc…

They only legalized it recently though.

https://www.vice.com/en/article/legal-weed-netherlands/

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#85

Post by alecco »

vouaobrasil wrote: post #6

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Gen Z was conditioned with algorithmic timelines and loot boxes (gambling).

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#86

Post by cassianoleal »

achairapart wrote: post #65
vouaobrasil wrote: post #6

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Suddenly I remember this movie from the 90s where people drugged themself with some kind of minidisc. “Strange Days”, maybe? Anyhow, I always found the plot weird, but maybe they actually were onto something…

Or the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Game [0]. Every time I watch that I get this eerie sensation that we're essentially giving our free will up to the masters of the games and social platforms we're addicted to.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_%28Star_Trek:_The_Nex...

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#87

Post by pvaldes »

codr7 wrote: post #7
carlosjobim wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't use LSD habitually. If they switched to LSD, then that's very interesting.

Some do, and that's fine too.

> Some do, and that's fine too.

And those should learn something from Syd Barret's life

Could had been a millionaire rock star, women, expensive toys, children. He could had everything for the rest of his life. But he choose LSD. As a lot of people claim, LSD is a cool and harmless funny drug, right?.

His life instead was: living in his mum house since 24 Yo, with his brain like a car crash, and all the time in the world to think on his boy room about how he managed to mess up his life so badly.

So thanks, but no way.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#88

Post by carlosjobim »

codr7 wrote: post #7
carlosjobim wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't use LSD habitually. If they switched to LSD, then that's very interesting.

Some do, and that's fine too.

Not in the same way as alcohol, weed or cigarettes. Not even close.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#89

Post by vouaobrasil »

imoverclocked wrote: post #26
vouaobrasil wrote: post #6

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Be careful of a possible false dichotomy; People don’t need to have a drug.

That's fair. But I was only referring to those that tend towards drugs, since the entire study is about a reduction in drug use.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#90

Post by vouaobrasil »

rolph wrote: post #83
vouaobrasil wrote: post #6

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Tek comes to mind https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TekWar

Hey I remember that show! What a weird one. I kinda liked it though.
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