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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

#251

Post by lazystar »

Mistletoe wrote: post #240
genezeta wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The discs had -in the movie- the memories of another person, and you would experience that memory and sensations as if you were living it. So, e.g. someone would record themselves doing something risky and you would get the adrenaline rush from watching it. So... Maybe in some way one could argue that social media gives some sort of connection were you get some feelings from what others are doing/showing. I mean, tec…

This is exactly the parasocial way my girlfriend's niece and friends experience life. No relationships of their own, it is all celebrities and their lives, ingested on their phones. I don't have the heart to tell them that 95% of it is stuff created by PR firms.

playing devils advocate for a minute... isnt that similar to what our parents said in the 80's/90's about our generation? all that "tv and phone" brain rot

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#253

Post by john_minsk »

john_minsk wrote: post #198
NotYourLawyer wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’d think doomerism would lead to MORE drug use.

Bad times create strong people.

To clarify, I really think that is what's happening. People feel that their future is not a guaranteed success and make safer choices to be clear minded and focused to achieve success. Probably just my bias is talking...

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#254

Post by sznio »

smogcutter wrote: post #199
crtified wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine that, for the young people of the world, the Covid years really ripped away the illusion that the adults of the world are in competent control. To a degree that modern generations (from otherwise relatively stable, wealthy countries) have never experienced. While there are other major factors clearly contributing to the generational angst, I think this was the catalyst. I wonder how the economics stack up,…

Agreed that Covid was disillusioning for young people, but uniquely so? The 2008 financial crisis, 9/11, and the GWoT would all like a word. The only generation I can think of without a similar formative crisis (in the US at least) is Gen X. Does the death of Kurt Cobain count?

the financial crisis was just financial. 9/11 or war on terror was just behind a tv screen.

covid was actually something everyone felt personally - not just empathized with through media. I feel like I just started recovering mentally from the lockdowns - all my college years eaten up by them.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#255

Post by earnestinger »

mschuster91 wrote: post #96
pkaye wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They only legalized it recently though. https://www.vice.com/en/article/legal-weed-netherlands/

Yeah, it was decriminalized... but that wasn't my point. The point is, police didn't care, and it wasn't interesting for young people because of that.

Legalisation/decriminalisation was only one part of the strategy.

Real problem they had was heroin. So they made heroin(or some replacement) free, pushing out drug dealers from the market. Importantly: providing other help to addicts, so they could/would be part of society.

https://youtu.be/6OYLoPvLzPo?feature=shared (1h video comparing situation in US, Portugal, Netherlands; Netherlands part starts around 27:00)

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#256

Post by aziaziazi »

mmooss wrote: post #149
MarcelOlsz wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All I want in life is a good union for software. Role finished this week, who needs me next week? Off I go.

The political instability, social instability, climate change, wars, and more will affect you whether or not you deny them.

Those are easier to cope with when you live in a supportive society. _Most_ humans naturally help each others in case of emergency. It’s easier when the framework is already in place.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#258

Post by Gigachad »

bdangubic wrote: post #165
Gigachad wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s regular news articles about people straight up dying from dodgy pills. Why would you take that risk. There is no way to safely use drugs when a single pill could kill you instantly.

not that you are wrong but life without risk is what today’s kids are mostly experiencing and it is no way to live. statistically based on number of pills consumed your chances of straight-up dying are very low. drug dealers do not want to kill you any more than Elon selling you a Tesla without brakes. we do thousands of inherently dangerous things all the time (e.g. each time you fly you should know that chances are…

I find this discussion quite odd. Society has worked quite hard for a long time now to reduce drug usage, and now it’s actually going down, and somehow that’s meant to be a bad thing.

I get the point about kids being afraid of taking any risks being bad. But why is taking drugs important to someone’s life in a way that riding a mountain bike and risking hurting yourself doesn’t satisfy?

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#259

Post by 01100011 »

A question for older folks: what did drugs do for us? Why did we do them?

For me, drugs were:

- socialization. I met a lot of friends through alcohol & drugs and they became the social glue for my circle. Alcohol & drugs became a large part of my identity.

- a way to cope with boredom. Every day is a party when you're high.

- identity. In my generation, drugs were mostly cool and associated with iconoclasts, artists, etc.

Young people's culture changed. I don't think kids see alcohol, drugs and being out of control as cool anymore. I don't know specifically what changed this. Better social messaging, mass prescribing of ADHD meds, more competitive job markets.. Social media and multiplayer gaming have both ramped up competitive drives for what used to be more relaxing activities. Maybe the current optiate and meth epidemics are more effective as a warning than, say, the crack epidemic was for us?

Kids have tech to glue them together(poorly in many cases, but it does fill the niche). Kids have internet subcultures to define their cultures now. Alternative lifestyles are much more accessible and take much less risk to participate in vs my childhood in the 80s. You don't need drugs to meet people or forge common identities.

Kids are never bored anymore. I suspect there has never been a better time to be a kid in a boring small town. If you have bandwidth, you have culture. You have better shipping, home delivery, cheap imports, etc. Affluence seems more common than it used to be, even in our highly divided economy.

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