Alcohol abuse in teens and young adults
I am baffled by our cultural permissiveness towards alcohol use in the young. Many assume its use as a right of passage and bring up their own experiences of people who ‘grew out of it’. Reality points elsewhere: Many of the young abusers face catastrophic consequences and develop lifelong addictions.
Alcohol intoxication melts away the essence of what means to be a decision-making human. The executive functions of the brain’s frontal cortex are suspended under the influence of alcohol. How can we consider this effect to be harmless precisely at the juncture of life when critical thinking is needed most?
Tobacco use was accepted not too long ago. Let’s take action to send alcohol and other mind-altering substances the same way. Pay attention to popular art and the not-so-subtle message it gives to our youth, glorifying addictive behaviors. These ‘prophets of immorality’ are talking to our kids more than we do!