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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

#301

Post by addicted »

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…

I’ve said this story before but I quit Facebook about 10 years ago, at a time when it was essentially the only social media game in town, so I was essentially quitting social media, and the quitting process felt exactly like when I had quit smoking the year before that.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#302

Post by fsflover »

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…

Yes, and a former executive confirmed that it's intentional: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24579498

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#303

Post by atombender »

ahartmetz wrote: post #123
twiceaday wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like Brain Dances (BDs) from Cyberpunk 2077.

Simstim from Neuromancer (released in 1984) is the first mention of such a thing that I know of.

Brainstorm (1983) did it before Neuromancer. The movie is about a device that records and replays sensory and emotional experiences, and a central plot point is that it records the dying moments of a character.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#304

Post by spacechild1 »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #194
threeseed wrote: post #40

There is also a corresponding decline in alcohol consumption. One angle that hasn't been researched enough is the link to anti-anxiety and anti-depression medication. These has been a significant rise in the prescription of both to young adults: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/anxiety-prescripti... And on these medications there are often severe interactions with alcohol and drugs which would be enough to f…

The other thing I haven't seen in this thread yet is that kids today are really focused on is: lifestyle -- they want to work hard at school so they can get great jobs to make a lot of money so they can afford to own a home and live healthy lives. With the cost of living, and everything else, they're going to have to make a lot of money to life the kind of life that they're used to as kids. My kids are not on social…

> My kids are not on social media.

Your kids are big outliers then. I wouldn't extrapolate to the general young population.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#305

Post by addicted »

maccard wrote: post #285
lazystar wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Yes. And what the previous generation said about rock music. Celebrities and “socialites” have been idolised for years - Paris Hilton certainly isn’t the doing of this generation, neither is Jackie Kennedy. If you think that what we’re doing with mobile apps and social media is new, take a look at the 20th century a little harder.

1. People were clearly wrong about music. Audio only is clearly not as addictive as video + audio.

2. People did say that about TV and TV maybe had the potential to be like this. However, TV failed in many ways to be a hyper addictive device. Some of the many reasons: i. Just less content. There wasn’t that much TV content at all. YT probably adds more content in an hour than all the TV content ever created.

ii. You couldn’t choose what you wanted to watch beyond a few dozen channels at best. So you always had opportunities where you were forced to do something different at many times.

iii. The TV wasn’t available to you at all times. You had to go to the den to watch it and you couldn’t take it to school with you.

iv. TV couldn’t specifically target you individually with content to keep you watching. The most amount of targeting TV could do was at maybe a county level.

v. You couldn’t be part of the TV. Social media and phones today make you an integral part of the “show” where a kid can end up having a video of them popping their pants on a playground shown to millions of people. Even in a more ordinary sense, a kid commenting on a video or sending a message to a friend makes them part of the device in a way TV never could outside of extraordinary situations.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#306

Post by addicted »

melagonster wrote: post #235
rurp wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree with this. Social media companies are incredibly valuable specifically because they are effective at getting people to spend their money on things they otherwise wouldn't have. Depression, suicide, and other serious mental health disorders are strongly linked with social media use. Is that better than more kids drinking and smoking pot? I don't know, it's complicated. It's certainly not clearly be…

Hello, depending on data from the CDC, we have: >Number of alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides: 51,191 Alcohol-induced deaths, excluding accidents and homicides per 100,000 population: 15.4 >All suicides Number of deaths: 49,476 Deaths per 100,000 population: 14.8 Apparently, not all suicides are caused by social media, and accidents may be more important here. I just want to offer some data tha…

The problem with alcohol is that it’s a drug that isn’t just legal and tolerated, it’s a drug that’s celebrated and encouraged.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#307

Post by coffeebeqn »

Animats wrote: post #241

The pot industry is having serious problems. The market was not only way overestimated, sales are down.[1] World's smallest violin plays. [1] https://www.ft.com/content/de36eb98-f28d-4594-9ae6-624d25802...

This growth story I never understood. The grey market has been extremely saturated for at least 20-30 years - demand can’t really grow from “everyone who wants it has it”. There is barely any value add that a company can do with the raw output (flower). The growing and processing equipment is already a mature market. Growing is easy if you can follow a basic guide and invest $500 in equipment. Harvesting is just cutting it off the plant and putting it up to dry.. The vape cartridges etc, anyone can buy from AliBaba for cents a piece. I just don’t see where you can outcompete a random Joe

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#308

Post by chiefalchemist »

> surveys a nationally representative group of teens each year

Self reported with nothing actual to verify (e.g., hair sample, school sewer water sample, etc.) Self-reported data is notorious for being unreliable. Why would this be any different?

Editorial: What a waste of time and money. Hopefully taxpayers aren't paying for this.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#309

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

sandy_coyote wrote: post #216
nozzlegear wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're just missing a cigar and a dream about trains here.

What's the reference here? I thought Pink Floyd at first.

Quoth the AI:

> According to Freud, dreaming about trains often symbolizes the journey of life, with the train representing the progression of time and the destination representing death, and the act of riding a train can be linked to unconscious sexual desires due to the sensation of movement and confinement, particularly when experiencing anxiety about missing a train or being trapped on one.

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