The results of the annual Monitoring the Future survey of middle and high school students for 2014 were primarily good news overall. Alcohol and tobacco use both dropped to record 40-year lows, and cannabis use saw the first decrease in years after steadily increasing since 2007. Other drugs, both illicit and prescription, saw either decreases or no significant change in 2014, and most of those remained well below their most recent peaks. Dangerous quasi-legal synthetic "designer drugs", such as "K2" (synthetic cannabis) and "bath salts", have plummeted to the lowest levels since they have first been measured. And there was no substance that saw any significant increases in 2014.
One thing that makes such results remarkable is that 2014 was the first year that cannabis was fully legalized in Colorado and Washington, with a few more states on the way as well. And there is currently zero evidence that any of the prohibitionists' fears have actually materialized. Another remarkable observation is the fact that "extreme binge drinking" (i.e. 10+ drinks in the same occasion at least once in the past two weeks) among high school seniors has finally dropped to the lowest level since it was first recorded in 2005. For example, from 2005-2011, it remained flat at 11%, and from 2011-2014 it had dropped by more than a third to 7%. And lest you erroneously think that the longstanding 21 drinking age (or tougher enforcement thereof) is somehow the cause of that drop, significant decreases in teen drinking have also occurred in other countries where the drinking age is still 18.
But don't expect to hear such good news from the fearmongering mainstream media, of course.
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I just hope they don't try that crazy Russian shit that eats away at your skin.
ReplyDeleteThey don't call it Krokodil for nothing.
DeleteHey Ajax, here's my e-mail: Rhodes009R@aol.com
DeleteThe statistics are good news. The mainstream media won't report on those statistics in a positive way because there are many ageist reporters who report the news. In addition, many people who watch news reports want to hear ageist opinions against young people. Regardless of this terrible situation in the media, young people are more responsible than young people from previous decades. The statistics from Monitoring the Future prove this. Since the mainstream media won't report those statistics in a good way, we should find outlets which would.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.military.com/daily-news/2015/02/28/lawmaker-proposes-dropping-drinking-age-for-troops-to-1.html
ReplyDeleteAjax, I posted a link. Are you OK?
ReplyDeleteAnthony has brought up a good article.
ReplyDeleteThe legislator has introduced a good bill. I was surprised that he was a Democrat because it has usually been Republicans that have introduced bills to partially lower the drinking age. Maryland should forego the $32 million in transportation funding. As we agree, young women and young men who are 18-20 years should be allowed to drink alcoholic beverages. Following the law which treats young adults as less than capable is not worth it. As in legislatures around the country, there are too many ageist legislators but a legislator in favor of lowering the drinking age is a good thing.
http://www.aol.com/article/2015/03/13/institute-of-medicine-recommends-raising-smoking-age-to-21/21153267/?icid=maing-grid7|maing10|dl7|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D627739
ReplyDeleteIn regards to Anthony's article.
ReplyDeleteThe Institute of Medicine sounds more like a hate group against young people than it sounds like an organization dedicated to health. There's no justification for raising the smoking age to 21. The Institute of Medicine supports the idea for age discriminatory reasons. If the organization was not ageist, the organization wouldn't support. There are two types of liberalism. There's oppressive liberalism like the Institute of Medicine and there's real liberalism like the ACLU.
Edwin, I have a question. In the St. Louis Area, they put up billboards from late August to the end of October. "THE LEGAL DRINKING AGE IS 21." Is this just a St. Louis thing or does it happen in your part of the country too? I would try to avoid seeing them by choosing different routes.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you also heard about that guy who was beaten up by some cop for a fake id.
ReplyDeleteI have never seen a billboard which justifies the ageist drinking age. Those billboards in the St. Louis metropolitan area are justifying the oppression of young women and young men when it comes to alcoholic beverages. This is why those billboards are close to hate speech. I have read articles about the young man in Charlottesville who was brutalized by Alcoholic Beverage Control officers. In the same city, those police officers also treated a young woman like a threat because the officers thought that she was carrying wine bottles. The ABC police officers are fanatics when it comes to enforcing the ageist drinking age.
ReplyDeleteWhere is Ajax? If he's busy, I'll understand. It's just odd that he hasn't posted any new articles with all the news happening.
ReplyDeleteWhere's Ajax the Great?
ReplyDeleteHi, everyone! Sorry I have been busy lately.
ReplyDeleteAs for the idea of raising the smoking age to 18, well, you know where I stand on that one. I think the age limits for alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis should all be 18 across the board. Thus, I strongly disagree with the IOM's recommendation to raise it to 21. It is worth noting that NYC already raised the smoking age to 21 effective since May 2014, and I am unaware of any hard evidence that teenage tobacco use has decreased any faster since then. On the contrary, the use of e-cigarettes (also with an age limit of 21) seems to be on the rise in NYC just like the rest of the nation.
ReplyDeleteHey Ajax, do they ever put up billboards in your area from mid-August to the end of October that read:"The Legal Drinking Age is 21"? It started in 2011. I wonder if our movement prompted them to do it? By the way, I tried adding you on Facebook. Look for the guy with the cigar in his mouth.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any billboards like that in my area lately, but I have seen posters like that from time to time. Sometimes I want to just take a permanent marker and change "21" to "18", but my prefrontal cortex tells me "no", lol.
ReplyDeleteThose posters would look better with "21" marked out and "18" put in.
DeleteI would like to see this law severely weakened by 2020. We need to start brainstorming, people. Choose Responsibility has become a useless marzipan dildo.
ReplyDeleteI have news. A state legislator from Minnesota has introduced a bill which would lower the drinking age to 19. The drinking age in neighboring Ontario is also 19. Our movement should give him credit for his courage in supporting a lower drinking age. Our movement should encourage state governments to change their budgets to make up part of the transportation shortfall in order to make way for a drinking age of 18.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4boyzOTQ9-4