Teens who text a lot live unsafe lives, a study claims

A study done by the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine in Cleveland shows that teens who text a lot (more than 120 messages per school day) and who spend a lot of time on social networks (more than three hours a school day), are more likely to lead unsafe lives. Unsafe, in the eyes of the researchers means they drink alcohol, use drugs and OMG, have sex! The calamity! High school students who drink, smoke weed and fool around with each other. This must be the end of the world.

At first my reaction was to laugh. I looked at the calendar, no it was not April fools day. So was this research real? What got my goat most was the blatant reversal the researchers allowed themselves. They warned parents that excessive - in their eyes - texting and social networking caused all these debaucheries. Which of course is total poppycock to put it mildly.

I remember my high school days, although they are some time ago. We did not have social network sites and mobile phones. They were not even a gleam in the eyes of their unborn inventors. Yet I do remember the socially more active specimens of my age group being a tad more precocious than some. They smoked, drank and screwed around at 16. Others did not. Live and let live. Had a study been done in those days they would have shown much the same results percentage wise. You see, there's one line in the report that gave the game away: "Many of the 19.8 percent of teens who reported hyper-texting were female, minority, from lower socioeconomic status and had no father at home". I went to two schools that had a large percentage of students that would fit the above classification and you know what? They would also fit the reports findings to a tee. And yet, as stated, no texting, no social network sites. Might there be another cause for the findings of the report?

Teens are teens. They explore the boundaries of what is possible. They experiment. That's what teens do, even have to do. That's their purpose in life. Let teens be teens. True, as a parent there has to be a certain measure of control and awareness but there also has to be a certain allowance of freedom. In the end most of them will turn out to become well adjusted members of society if they are given the chance. If there is no or little parental control teens may fly off the hook. It happened in ancient Greece, it happened in medieval England, it happens now. This report in my view grossly over-hypes the blame social technologies have in what is the normal behaviour of certain groups of high school kids.

Proposition 19: either legalise cannabis or ban alcohol

2 November 2010 California votes on a proposition to legalise marijuana en make various activities linked to the growing and selling of marijuana a legal, controllable and taxable undertaking.

As usual, anything to do with drugs becomes a controversial subject, especially in the US. Proposition 19 is no exception. The nay sayers think it will be the end of civilised society when proposition 19 is approved. Ay sayers think it will pull the rug from under a lot of illegal activities.

I live in the Netherlands, where marijuana is, if not exactly legal under all circumstances, tolerated by the authorities and it can be legally purchased for personal use. So my view on this whole thing is rather liberal. As a matter of fact I see no difference between alcohol or cannabis. One of the arguments of the nay sayers is: "What if your doctor or nurse is high?" Yes, well, what if he or she is drunk? Another argument against prop 19 is that it would lead inevitably to addiction to hard drugs. This is nonsense. Marijuana is less addictive than alcohol. The only reason people who smoke marijuana can become addicted to hard drugs is that the only place they can get marijuana now also happens to be the place that sells the hard stuff because it is both illegal. Pulling marijuana out of the illegal circuit may lead to less addictions to hard drugs in the long run.

In the Netherlands both alcohol and cannabis are freely available, although you need to find a specialist shop for the latter while alcohol is available in practically every food store. Do I see stoners lining the pavement? No. Do our doctors and nurses walk around with their heads in the clouds? No. Do we have substantially more people addicted to hard drugs here than in the U.S.? No. In other words, I think the arguments of the nay sayers are ludicrous. They also deny that the population of California are responsible adults who can think for themselves. Like alcohol, the usage of cannabis is down to a person's own responsibility. Drink driving kills people. Alcohol addiction wrecks families. Yet, the vast majority of people who drink alcohol do so in a responsible manner and know their limits. It will be the same with the use of cannabis when it becomes legal.

There is no valid reason to ban cannabis while at the same time allowing alcohol. Ban them both or don't ban either. And we all know what happens when you ban alcohol...

Drink! You'll live longer, a new study suggests

Time magazine published an article on Monday, quoting a study published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The research found that heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers. Good news for many people, including myself. And a perfect Friday subject for The Second Opinion Tribune.


The story comes with a note of warning: alcoholic beverages are not eternal-life-elixirs. There are rather annoying illnesses associated with alcohol, like cirrhosis and certain kinds of cancer. And a drunk crossing the street is more likely to be hit by the last bus than a sober person.


It is unclear why the controversial findings cropped up. One of the reasons thought to be instrumental in boosting a drunk's life expectancy is the fact that drinking is a social activity. It is well known that social interactivity is conducive to a longer life. 


It seems some of us are screwed then: the lonely drunks. The ones downing their single malts in quiet contemplation of life, the world and everything. Those who abscond from the pressures of a social life


To be slightly drunk makes life so much easier. The difficult questions that pester one during the day become irrelevant. The mind chooses higher plains to wander on than the mundane world of taxes, bank accounts in the red, pesky managers and the general malaise caused by a life just ebbing away in a river of profound pointlessness.


So allow me to make a statement that is based on sober self-observation, so no scientific validity should be attached to the following: all drinkers probably live longer. Even if the amount of social interaction you have resembles that of Richard Dawkins at a bishops convention. 


Instead of a yearly holiday wherein you forget the earthly worries, the brain takes a daily break. Every day it throws caution to the wind and flits around, free as a butterfly on a summer's day. The brain is allowed its fairy tales that become as much truth as the chewing out received by that much too successful too young, new manager.


A daily dose of alcohol may be bad for the liver, but provided you have brain cells to spare - and lets face it, most of us do - it does wonders for your peace of mind. Your health!


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