- 'Drugs from the social margin have entered the mainstream. It is enough to visit any addiction therapy centre to see that we have the whole social cross-section there and not adolescents from the area of exclusion,' - convinces dr Marcin Szulc, UG professor from the Faculty of Social Sciences, UG. He spoke about new drugs and new related threats for children and adolescents during a lecture at the Summer Meetings with Science.
Every Saturday of July and August at the Centre for Creative Work of the IBW PAS in Czarlin-Skoczkowo on Lake Wdzydze, lectures of popular science popularising the results of research carried out in Poland entitled "Summer Meetings with Science" were held once again. This year, the Meetings were attended by lecturers from the Faculty of History of the University of Gdańsk: prof. dr hab. Beata Możejko, dr hab. Anna Mazurkiewicz, prof. UG and mgr Dominika Leśniewska as well as dr Marcin Szulc prof. UG from the Institute of Psychology UG.
How to save our children?
- 'This was not my first meeting in Czarlin. In 2019, I gave a warmly received lecture there on the mechanisms of persuasion and unethical sales tactics towards seniors,' - said dr Marcin Szulc, prof. UG from the Faculty of Social Sciences, UG. This year, as part of the Summer Meetings with Science, he spoke about new drugs. New drugs-new threats. How to save our children?
According to dr Marcin Szulc, prof. UG, drug use has long ceased to concern only narrow groups of recipients, certain social and cultural niches. - 'A serious threat are new psychoactive substances (NPS), which, due to their unknown composition and potency, may cause very dangerous health consequences,' - explains dr Marcin Szulc, prof. UG. His lecture met with great interest of the holiday audience. - 'It is evident that the problem of drugs is still topical, especially issues concerning the protection of children from them. Actually, we can talk about minimising the risk, because it always exists, especially during adolescence, when the propensity to undertake risky behaviour is higher than in other periods of life due to the development of neuronal circuits,' he stresses.
However, not everyone is at risk and not to the same extent. - 'During adolescence, the dominant role is played by the semi-lateral nucleus, which forms early and is the zone of pleasure and reward. Different parts of the brain mature at different rates hence the lack of synchronisation between centres. If the rewards are not big enough, the brain will look for bigger ones - this explains the propensity for risky behaviour,' - explains dr Marcin Szulc, prof. UG.
According to the researcher, the propensity for these behaviours in adolescents increases in groups, peer pressure and breaking the rules together provides more joy than doing it alone. Additionally, at the time when the brain is most vulnerable, teenagers are most likely to experiment with drugs or alcohol. - 'Adolescents are more susceptible than adults to the damaging effects of alcohol on memory and increased risk of social problems. Studies on animal models indicate that binge drinking during adolescence is associated with a higher risk of brain damage and cognitive impairment than in adult individuals,' he adds.
Truth and myths
It turns out that modern psychoactive substances are more dangerous than they used to be. The drug market has changed, there is a wider variety of new, cheaper drugs with a broad spectrum of effects and they are easier to produce. According to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, 950 new psychoactive substances were registered from 2005 to 2019... - 'Marginalised drugs have entered the mainstream, it is enough to visit any addiction therapy centre to see that we have the whole cross-section of society there and not adolescents from the area of exclusion,' - argues dr Marcin Szulc, prof. UG.
In his speech, he also mentioned the myths that have been spread about marihuana, which are treated as a panacea. - 'There are a lot of harmful myths about cannabis, both about its risks and benefits. A lot of the problems associated with so-called synthetic cannabis, which can be very dangerous, are often overlooked,' he warns. - 'I believe that cannabis should not be demonised, but looked at objectively, seeing its potential but also the risks of its use. It is one thing to use cannabis products for therapeutic purposes and another to use them for recreational purposes,' he stresses.
According to the researcher, many users are convinced of the low risk of using psychoactive drugs. In addition, there are no standards for dealing with intoxicated people. - 'We are helpless in the face of the phenomenon of polytoxicomania (use and abuse at the same time of various substances often having antagonistic effects, such as stimulants and sedatives). Such a situation makes it necessary for us to be vigilant all the time and to look for effective systemic solutions as well as to take pro-health measures ourselves, which will reduce the risk of our children seeking pleasure in such a risky way,' - he convinces. In his opinion, the best we can do as parents and teachers is to be positive adults and health ambassadors. - 'The most effective preventive measure is our own decent behaviour and building good relations with our children, as they are the most effective factor protecting against risks,' - he adds.
dr Marcin Szulc - a professor at the University of Gdańsk, an academic teacher and a psychologist at the Department of Personality and Forensic Psychology. For many years he has also cooperated with GUT, conducting classes in psychology. His scientific interests revolve around the issue of social threats, with particular emphasis on the mechanisms of addiction, treatment of addictions, juvenile delinquency, bullying and cyber threats, re-socialisation of juvenile offenders and developmental problems of adolescence. He is a populariser of science, conducts educational meetings for pedagogical councils, parents and young people. He is the author of publications on the psychology of social threats. Teacher of the Year 2011 awarded the Krzysztof Celestin Mrongowiusz statuette.
Photographs: dr Wacław Kulczykowski from the Faculty of History, University of Gdańsk.
In the programme of XIX Summer Meetings with Science in August:
August 21, 2021, prof. dr. hab. Krystyna Skwarło-Sońca from the Faculty of Biology, UW - Does 'brighter' always mean 'better'?
August 28, 2021, prof. Marek Kulczykowski from the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences - Building failures with reinforced soil in the background.
