Abstract

ROLANDO LOPEZ, Mauro Agustín. Creencias contemporáneas y consumo de sustancias psicoactivas. Acta toxicol. argent. [online]. 2023, vol.31, n.1, pp.6-6. ISSN 1851-3743.

A steady growth in the use of psychoactive substances is being observed, despite the multiple harmful health and psy-chosocial effects associated with their consumption. The present paper argues that a host of social beliefs emerging from the current zeitgeist or life philosophy encourage substance abuse, especially during youth and adolescence. It analyses the synergy between post-modern life views and the disinhibiting, sedative, anesthetic, psychostimulant and dissociative effects of psychoactive substances in the development of current social standards of behavior. Fun and enjoyment held as core values, the pursuit of excess, consumerism, the relativization of knowledge, a statistical view of morality, the quest for in-stant gratification, the digitalization of social interactions and liquid relationships are some of the contributing factors. Low risk percep-tion about substance use, mass-media campaigns directed at the young, the rise of depression, the stigma associated with mental illness and deficiencies in mental health services further compound this issue. Premature morbidity and mortality, traffic incidents, teenage pregnancy and violent behaviors are some of the consequences exacerbated by substance abuse. The situation is compounded by media promotion of such substances, targeted at teenagers who owing to social and biological reasons find themselves at a higher probability of incurring risky behaviors. As a conclusion, the present study underscores the need to hold early discussions with the young regarding current belief systems in order to mitigate the detrimental social and health effects of substance abuse.

Keywords : Postmodernism; Addiction; Sociobiology; Liquid modernity.

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