Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Technology

Social networks show drug use follows lack of sleep

By Ewen Callaway

24 March 2010

Âé¶¹´«Ã½. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

Easily influenced

(Image: Keith Brofsky/Stone/Getty)

PARENTS looking to steer their teens away from drugs may want to encourage them stay in bed longer. Lack of sleep seems to lead to increased drug use – not the other way around, as many researchers previously concluded – and this is likely to be a pattern of behaviour that teenagers acquire from their friends.

“Your sleep is going to influence my sleep and that will make me more likely to do drugs,” says , a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Diego, who led the study.

Establishing whether one behaviour leads to another…

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox. We'll also keep you up to date with Âé¶¹´«Ã½ events and special offers.

Sign up

To continue reading, today with our introductory offers

or

Existing subscribers

Sign in to your account
Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop