The Economist has a really fascinating set of articles on latest tendencies in western tradition. The primary one is entitled Getting old disgracefully, and paperwork a significant improve in promiscuous intercourse and drug use among the many child increase era. (Sure, that’s my era.) The second article notes a dramatic decease on this form of habits among the many youthful era:
The pattern in direction of youthful sobriety holds true for a lot of the wealthy world. In 2024 illicit drug use amongst adolescents dropped to historic lows in America, in line with a nationwide survey printed on December seventeenth by the College of Michigan. Ingesting fell, too. The researchers discovered that even hashish use is now declining quick among the many younger, regardless of weed having been made authorized in nearly half of states over the previous decade. European surveys present persevering with drops in drug and alcohol use too.
Why is youthful extra dying out? There isn’t any single clarification. Youngsters are extra carefully watched than previously, and a better share of younger adults are from extra abstemious immigrant cultures. Age id checks at bars are extra frequent; Netflix and Fortnite are cheaper than cider; and courting apps are higher than discovering love on the sticky flooring of a spot known as “Snobs”. The pattern is evident and appears more likely to final. It’s their mother and father who’re the issue now.
Should you stay lengthy sufficient you see all types of peculiar tendencies, and that is definitely one which I by no means would have imagined. I had at all times considered wild habits as being a province of the younger, whereas aged individuals tended to be extra conservative of their existence.
I’m not in favor of drug prohibition, but when we should have restrictions on drug use then maybe we must always substitute the minimal age for pot smoking with a most age.
In fact I’m joking, however these articles do increase a critical level. Over latest many years, many hundreds of individuals have been imprisoned for promoting marijuana. The drug warriors advised us that we wanted to do that, regardless of the massive price in each {dollars} spent and lives ruined, as a result of authorized marijuana could be abused by younger folks that lack the maturity to make clever choices. It now appears that all the drug warfare was primarily based on a fallacy. Legalizing marijuana has been related to an enormous decease in pot use among the many younger. A lot human distress, all attributable to a false impression.
Right here is Titian’s Allegory of Prudence:
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