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Teen Brains and Drugs
毒品对青少年大脑的影响(2/2)
Teen Brains and Drugs
New research show the danger that drug and alcohol pose to teenagers’ brains
How does substance abuse start?
Once teens start to drink or use drugs, the consequences turn severe. Recent studies show that teens who start using marijuana before they turn 17 are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia than people who didn’t use or started smoking marijuana in young adulthood.
Marijuana has often been called a gateway drug. But the real gateway drug may be nicotine, experts say. Most kids try cigarettes before other drugs. Cigarette smoking can disrupt memory and attention, said Dr. Leslie Jacobsen, a psychiatrist at Yale University. “Children get addicted to smoking more quickly than they expect, and many aren’t even aware that they are dependent,” she said.
Alcohol abuse impairs judgment
A study showed that chronic binge drinkers make bad decisions in other parts of life, too. Researchers at the Midwest Alcoholism Research Center tested 19- and 20-year-olds on a decision-making task involving gambling risks. People who were chronic binge drinkers more often made decisions that would put them at high risk for losing money, said Kenneth J. Sher, director of the center.
The binge drinkers weren’t more impulsive or thrill-seeking than their non-drinking counterparts. Bad decision-making on the gambling test was associated with unwise decisions about drinking in life. The researchers don’t know whether students are binge drinkers because they are bad at decision-making or if the alcohol impairs their ability to make good decisions, Sher said. Either way, students get set in their ways earlier than many parents realize. “Most drinking patterns are set before they get to college,” Sher said.
As grim as the picture is for teens who use drugs, tobacco or alcohol, there is some good news. Because the teen brain is still developing, it may be able to recover from the harm of substance use if teens clean up their acts.
Specialized Terms
Substance abuse (n) 物质（尤指酒精或药物）滥用 excessive use of and dependence on an addictive substance, especially alcohol or a narcotic drug
Marijuana (n) 大麻 an illegal drug made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant
Gateway drug (n) 入门毒品 a habit-forming substance whose use may lead to the abuse of
Vocabulary Focus
Schizophrenia (n) 精神分裂症
Binge (n) an occasion when an activity is done in an extreme and harmful way, especially eating, drinking or spending money
Thrill-seeking (adj) always looking for a feeling of extreme excitement
Clean up one’s act (idiom) to start to obey generally accepted standards of behavior
Discussion Question
I finally know people drink and smoke a lot in casino is because they want to have the thrill-seeking feeling, though they would lose more quickly after drinks and drugs. Anyway, it’s clear drugs and alcohol are harmful to kids, so should those kids take drugs and drinks get punishment? Why or why not
Extra Exercise
1. Translate the following sentence into Chinese, ‘The researchers don’t know whether students are binge drinkers because they are bad at decision-making or if the alcohol impairs their ability to make good decisions, Sher said.’
2. According to the recording, complete the sentence ‘The chicken and the egg…
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