Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts • Hacker News Board

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#401

Post by nvarsj » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:00 PM UTC

card_zero wrote: post #274

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…

This is a massively overstated, trendy, technically incorrect thing to say.

Agreed. The original comment just made me think "good grief".

No, scrolling on a website is not the same as doing lines of coke in the club bathroom.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#402

Post by nvarsj » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:01 PM UTC

dartos wrote: post #380

It’s probably because previous generations are becoming okay with drugs and millennials tend to be in favor of more permissive drug use. If parents think it’s cool, teens won’t. Pretty clear cut to me.

Yup this is exactly it. In the middle class UK even cocaine use is normalized. When your parents are smoking weed, doing lines of coke, and drinking excessive amounts of wine/beer, it's not exactly cool.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#403

Post by kasey_junk » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:02 PM UTC

acuozzo wrote: post #212

jajko wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> they won't be buying homes, they won't be getting high paying jobs, and that the system is not going to work in their favor I dont have a clue what your upbringing looked like, but even up to around age of 25, I never ever expected nor was told to expect any of that. The success despite all that is much sweeter. Maybe thats some US thing, being raised in eastern Europe you were born to shit, you were considered ins…

> Teenagers being frustrated that they wont be owning some posh expensive house Posh expensive house? Nowhere was that mentioned. The post-WWII 20th century American social contract was: "You will have the ability to get married, live in a modest home of your own, own a car, raise 2-3 young children, and go on a modest annual vacation even if you work in a factory".

Neither of my parents _ever_ went on vacation until they were adults themselves. Both were middle class and white. 3 of my 4 grand parents worked in factories. 1 was a teacher.

My dad’s parents owned their own home. The _biggest_ one they owned was 1000 square feet, which they viewed as cavernous. The one my dad lived in as a small child had no indoor plumbing and the heat came from a single wood burning stove. I was alive when my dad first lived in a house with central air.

My mom’s parents never owned a home while she lived with them.

The numbers will back me up that this was a completely typical middle class American experience post ww2.

What seems to have changed is a) the class of housing stock available. b) trends around _where_ people live and c) the narrative about the past.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#404

Post by dr_dshiv » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:03 PM UTC

meiraleal wrote: post #384

dr_dshiv wrote: post #378

In the future, will there be drugs specifically for kids? I find it weird that we don’t give kids coffee to help them focus on math. (But amphetamine is fine?) There is no evidence coffee is bad for kids. Psychedelics are so similar to kid level playfulness — and sometimes I think it could be helpful to help them see the big picture. Even cannabis— we know it’s controlled use is fine for kids, based on studies of usa…

> Why do we wait till kids try it themselves under suspect circumstances rather than introducing it with intention? if you are talking about a "kid" of 16, 17 years old, that's less problematic. But a parent shouldn't be part of all experiences of a young person, much less actively pushing things.

It’s pretty normal for parents to drink alcohol with their kids. Letting kids of 12+ drink in special circumstances is common in Europe. But wanting to toke with a 15 year old to make sure they have a good first experience - why is that absolutely taboo?

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#405

Post by aeonik » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:06 PM UTC

throwameme wrote: post #392

sznio wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

i am just old enough to have experienced 9/11 when i was in elementary school. it was a similar change to society to how covid screwed everything when i was a child, there was no security in airports. like literally NONE. you could walk in and buy a flight with physical cash. if you wanted an international flight, there was a metal detector like you might find in a night club government ID and drivers licence did not…

I thought the AR-15s that the police carried in America were semi-auto. More like a sporting rifle than what the military uses.

AR-15s are more versatile than shotguns, though less powerful they are more accurate. If your going to carry a long gun around, it's probably the most logical option.

Basically anyone who isn't a prohibited person in America can field the same equipment. Though I think police have more access to restricted ammunition.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#406

Post by siruncledrew » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:14 PM UTC

I wonder if this decline means the public health campaigning and lessons about drinking/smoking/drugs prevention made a difference?

As 1 data point, I have a cousin who is 17, and I am 35.

As a 17 year old, she's been taught the dangers of cigarettes, that drinking is bad, and to avoid drugs for a number of years already.

I'm not saying this is bad... it just feels like previous generations (Millennials, Gen X, Boomers, etc) did not really go into the informational side about the risks of drug use from a personal level, and moreso approached don't do drugs like an episode of COPS, which focused more on the risk as a scare tactic.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#407

Post by 1986 » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:18 PM UTC

nvarsj wrote: post #401

card_zero wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a massively overstated, trendy, technically incorrect thing to say.

Agreed. The original comment just made me think "good grief". No, scrolling on a website is not the same as doing lines of coke in the club bathroom.

No, it's not, but there's a spectrum of drug experiences. Scrolling social media is more like sitting in a shitty motel by yourself on a meth binge, or being on the nod.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#408

Post by Fluorescence » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:20 PM UTC

nyc_data_geek1 wrote: post #121

twiceaday wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like Brain Dances (BDs) from Cyberpunk 2077.

Yes, which originally came from Cyberpunk, the first sourcebook for which was released in 1988, with Cyberpunk 2020 releasing in 1990 complete with the idea for pre-recorded replayable memories/full sensory experience, ie:Braindance. Strange Days was released in 1995. Maximum Mike was, and is, a prophet right alongside Gibson. edit: Although almost certainly this wasn't the first place people imagined being able to r…

Wiki tells me there was a Cyberpunk 2013 released in 1988. Feels like a millennial cult that keeps missing it's big day...

Cyberpunk 2013 - join us! Jack in choom

Cyberpunk 2020 - oops sorry, had to reschedule

Cyberpunk 2077 - crazy story, anyway we've got a new date

Cyberpunk ???? - this time, we promise!

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#409

Post by 9dev » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:21 PM UTC

gehwartzen wrote: post #379

9dev wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That kind of misogyny sounds like some deeply rooted trauma you have there, buddy. Have you ever considered that humans are simply social creatures, that the only thing really separating us from other animals is our ability to socialize and organise in groups? There is no programming, it’s our nature.

So if babies are ignored and raised in isolation they still grow up with normal social skills? I think it’s fairly clear that socialization is learned (a term which I think is equivalent to programmed in this context) and not something as innate (or “in our nature”) as breathing.

That’s a fallacy. Human babies don’t grow up in isolation; if they do, it’s in contrived experiments, and drawing conclusions from that is about as helpful as watching birds in a cage.

Humans in their natural environment will interact with other humans socially, mirror their display of emotion, and have a desire for affection.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#410

Post by selimthegrim » Sat, Dec 21, 2024, 3:22 PM UTC

api wrote: post #389

tirant wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I fear the (negative) impact of our current technological drugs goes beyond the impact of traditional drugs. I’ve seen kids not even 3-4 years old already hooked to smartphone screens. Even toddlers around 1 year old with an smartphone mount in their stroller. Main impact on kids is lack of socialization, lack of emotional regulation and a complete impact on their capabilities to keep their attention. Those used to b…

Old drugs are also at least sometimes social. Even heroin gives rise to cliques of users. It’s deeply unhealthy and self destructive but at least there is connection. Sometimes you get art out of it too. A whole era of great music has many bittersweet odes to smack. I particularly worry about men. The greater cultural and possibly (more controversial) biological susceptibility to isolation coupled with this stuff mea…

If you read William Dalrymple’s book about the early Christian church in the Middle East, that is exactly what happened in terms of gurus for hordes of fanatic monks.