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Morgan Currier

Professor Adrienne Cassel

English 1201 Online

25 June 2019

Summary of “Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs with Smartphones” by Matt Richtel

Matt Richtel, author of “Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs with Smartphones,” asked the

question, “Are teenagers using drugs less in part because they are constantly stimulated and

entertained by their computers and phones?” Lately, American teenagers have been less likely to

try or regularly use drugs, including alcohol. The use of smartphones and tablets have expanded

over the same period of time that drug use has declined and is worth the possibility of exploring.

Over the past decade, studies have found that for eighth and 10th graders, the use of

marijuana is down and social acceptability is up. Though marijuana use has risen among 12th

graders, the use of cocaine, hallucinogens, ecstasy and crack are all down, too, while LSD use

has remained steady. Heroin use has become an epidemic among adults in some communities,

however, it has fallen among high schoolers over the past decade. Dr. Volkow described

interactive media as an alternative reinforcer to drugs, saying that teens can get high when

playing these games. Dr. Joseph Lee said he suspected that drug use and experimentation had

changed because the opioid epidemic had exposed many more people and communities to the

deadly risks of drugs, creating a broader deterrent. The phone also provides a valuable tool for

people at parties who don’t want to do drugs because when you don’t feel like doing anything,

you can sit on your phone and act like you actually are doing something. Explanations aside,

researchers unanimously expressed hope that the trends would persist. It was crucial to continue

efforts to understand the reasons for the decline, as well as to discourage drug use.
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Works Cited

Richtel, Matt. "Are Teenagers Replacing Drugs with Smartphones." New York Times, 13 March

2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/13/health/teenagers-drugs-

smartphones.html. Accessed 24 June 2019.