When I was a kid, there was an anti-drug public-service announcement (PSA) on television showing a man holding an egg (this is your brain) and a hot frying pan (this is drugs). He breaks the egg into the pan (this is your brain on drugs). He holds the pan up to the camera as the egg oozes and sizzles.
Any questions?
I had questions. In part, these questions are what formed my path into neuroscience.
I had always felt that those PSAs were heavy handed, too deeply entrenched in the "Just Say No" message. Not everyone who takes drugs recreationally becomes addicted. But as I began to delve into this topic for my Ph.D. thesis, one thing became apparent: The earlier you start using drugs, the more likely you are to become an addict later in life.
This suggests that the strongest strategy to reduce addiction is indeed to stop teenagers from taking drugs in the first place. Since the 1980s, widespread in-school prevention programs based around the concept of "Just Say No" were launched to achieve this goal. But follow-up studies show that this message is generallyunsuccessful at curbing adolescent drug use.
[For more on this story by LAUREN MACKENZIE REYNOLDS, go to https://psmag.com/news/prevent...g-use-on-adolescents]
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