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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

#521

Post by thefaux »

mgbmtl wrote: post #507
derwiki wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was maybe only nerds in 1994, but by 1998 everyone at school was asking their parents for the internet so they could talk on ICQ—not just the nerds!

ICQ was a way of texting friends so that you could go party. At least for me, and I'm a nerd. I remember even "normal" friends were using IRC as a way to hookup. Cell phones were not very common. Looking at my non-nerd 17 year old, they meet maybe once a month, and it's to cook food together during the day. Nobody drinks. They just see it as a waste of money. Maybe not the most normal sample. They love biking and als…

Love how you describe your kid as not a nerd and then mention he bikes and goes to circus school :)

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#522

Post by seizethecheese »

inferiorhuman wrote: post #318
Gigachad wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gen Z here and people are definitely still doing drugs and drinking, but it does seem massively less. Just a personal anecdote, but there’s still a lot of house parties and stuff going on, and most people will have a couple drinks, some will have none, etc. But you are absolutely expected to handle yourself appropriately, getting too drunk or taking drugs you couldn’t handle isn’t tolerated and you’ll find yourself u…

getting too drunk or taking drugs you couldn’t handle isn’t tolerated and you’ll find yourself uninvited to future events. It is significantly more socially acceptable to drink no alcohol and take no drugs, than it is to get too drunk and act inappropriately. That doesn't sound all that different than previous generations. SXE's been a thing since the 80s. Not everyone is Bret Easton Ellis. I don't think that attitud…

It certainly was cool and expected to get “too drunk” when I was in high school and college. It was really not cool to have zero drinks.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#524

Post by beedeebeedee »

WalterBright wrote: post #498
beedeebeedee wrote: post #425

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spot on- so many social problems get attributed to everything but the economy and inequality. If we could make our system more equitable, then we would not have such desperation.

What happened with the tremendous social spending by the government?

Government spending is not a panacea for structural economic issues

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#525

Post by Spivak »

ANewFormation wrote: post #495

Simultaneously, pharmaceutical use rates have skyrocketed and continue growing. I'm curious if there is a causal relationship there. And I don't think this is a positive trend. Teens experimenting with weed, alcohol, and so on should not be encouraged but is, or was, just a part of life. Teens being on antidepressants, prescribed stimulants, and so on is rather quite sad.

I think you have a warped view of antidepressants, it's not a sad thing, kinda the opposite actually. Medicating with drugs and alcohol is the much sadder timeline.

Pre-antidepressants my life was fantastic on paper: stable job, close friends, good family, strong relationship, perfect health. But none of it mattered, there was no happiness, no sadness, no fulfillment, no contentment, it's hard to convey the total absence of literally any feeling at all toward anything. And I had no other frame of reference so I thought that's just how life was. I even went to years of therapy and that didn't help either. Eight months of antidepressants and I was a different person. I can't tell you how much regret I feel that I could have been happy for all those big important life moments— my first kiss, my first dance, my prom, winning states, graduating college.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#526

Post by ordu »

Gigachad wrote: post #262
01100011 wrote: post #259

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,…

Gen Z here and people are definitely still doing drugs and drinking, but it does seem massively less. Just a personal anecdote, but there’s still a lot of house parties and stuff going on, and most people will have a couple drinks, some will have none, etc. But you are absolutely expected to handle yourself appropriately, getting too drunk or taking drugs you couldn’t handle isn’t tolerated and you’ll find yourself u…

It reminds me of Mitki[1]. Their way to go to the party is to bring a bottle of vodka and drink it in one go before knocking at the door. Such a guy would seems ok and would be welcomed by the host, but in a 10 minutes he would become really drunk, while everyone around him is still 100% sober.

Completely non-gen-z way to behave, I suppose.

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

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#527

Post by MarcelOlsz »

MarcelOlsz wrote: post #229
toast0 wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most professional sports players are unionized and they move around all the time. :P I hope we get a union with a draft and such.

This would rule. I would watch the FAANG draft.

Actually, anyone who want's to scratch this itch just youtube the Excel World Championships. It's way more entertaining than it has any business being.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#528

Post by Wytwwww »

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.

> take a look at the 20th century a little harder

Effectively unlimited content is huge, though. IMHO that pretty much overshadows everything. There were only so much records, magazines and other content you could consume before the internet.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#529

Post by jamal-kumar »

thefaux wrote: post #521
mgbmtl wrote: post #507

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ICQ was a way of texting friends so that you could go party. At least for me, and I'm a nerd. I remember even "normal" friends were using IRC as a way to hookup. Cell phones were not very common. Looking at my non-nerd 17 year old, they meet maybe once a month, and it's to cook food together during the day. Nobody drinks. They just see it as a waste of money. Maybe not the most normal sample. They love biking and als…

Love how you describe your kid as not a nerd and then mention he bikes and goes to circus school :)

Nah that's just normal quebecois stuff. Picture cirque du soliel or how much the french love bikes

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#530

Post by Nasrudith »

fullspectrumdev wrote: post #474
alecco wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I wonder if that’s why there’s now such a fucking problem with sports betting…

I think it is more the accessibility increase from it being allowed along with unfettered advertising ensuring that the targeted ad demographic is "literally anybody who watches sports and more".
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