New Study Links Social Networking With Alcohol And Substance Abuse

Undated — Social networking is leading kids to substance abuse if a new survey proves correct.

According to a new study, teens who use Facebook and other social networking sites are three times as likely to drink alcohol, twice as likely to use marijuana, and five times more likely to smoke tobacco than teens who don’t frequent the site.

The survey was conducted by Columbia University’s National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse.

Seventy percent of teens spend time on these sites every day, according to the survey. That is 17 million 12 – 17 year olds.

Study researcher Joseph A. Califano said looking at pictures of teens getting drunk, using drugs, and passing out contributes to the risky behavior.

Compared to teens who never saw these images on social networking sites, picture viewers where three times more likely to drink alcohol, four times more likely to smoke pot, and three to four times more able to obtain marijuana and illegal prescription drugs.

Dr. Andres Huberman, medical director at North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital in West Hempstead, New York told CBS, “They see these images and there are no moral or educational statements accompanying them, so teens may be left with the impression that this is what the real world is about and that everybody is doing it, so it is OK.”

Nearly 90 percent of parents surveyed as part of the study said they didn’t think social networking sites would make their kids more likely to drink or do drugs.

Califano told WebMD, “It is a phenomenal assault on public health that we subject teens to pictures of drugs, alcohol, or teens being drunk or passed out on the Internet, in films, and on TV shows that are suggestive and glorify drinking and drugging.”

CBS News

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Washington state wants prisoners off Facebook

The State Department of Corrections is asking Facebook to shut down unauthorized prisoner accounts.

DOC Spokesman Chad Lewis said prisoners aren’t allowed to access the Internet behind bars, but some have maintained Facebook accounts through friends, relatives or by using contraband cell phones.

“Mostly it’s used to send illicit message to their spouses or girlfriends,” Lewis said. “We haven’t seen any incarcerated offenders use social media to conduct any illegal activity at this point.”

But, that’s not the case in California.

The social networking site already has a similar deal with prisons there after an inmate allegedly used such a site to track down his victim while behind bars.

“We decided to take the route that California did and work directly with Facebook and ask them if they would take down accounts that are activated either by the offender or someone on the outside that is updating their Facebook page on their behalf,” Lewis said.

Another route would be to pass new legislation to make it illegal for offenders to maintain social media accounts. But Lewis said that route would take longer and cost more.

Brandi Kruse, 97.3 KIRO FM Reporter

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