If you grew up in America in the ’70s or ’80s, you certainly know this ad that was played on TV. Even then it was very controversial, and no one really took it seriously, but it was an important part of the mindset that led to the war on drugs. It was part of this vague, pseudo-science, that in effect was to make young people believe cigarettes were the only safe drug to use.
We’ve just had a similar ‘education campaign’ in Europe, that led to the drinking age being raised in several places, including Holland. This happened even over the objections of parents of young people, the majority of whom wanted their children to continue to be able to buy alcohol. Drinking damages the brains of young people, was the rallying call. Isn’t it time we grew up, and stopped this kind of nonsense?
A recent study now shows no statistical correlation between alcohol use in young people and brain development. How is this study different from all those other studies in the past that showed young brains were damaged? Well, previous studies concentrated on young people who had signs of dependence on alcohol, and who often had other psychiatric problems. This latest study focused on a typical cross section of the population, and compared young but otherwise normal drinkers with their non-drinking counterparts.
