Are you more likely to text or tweet? Maybe you do both, since everyone is a multi-tasker now. Like texting while watching tv or checking email… Not to be left out, NIDA has recently started tweeting @NIDAnews . You can see some of our tweets below:
- 2.7% of eighth graders used cigarettes daily in the past month, down from 10.4% in 1996. http://bit.ly/4ziAlk
- Popping Pills – A Popular Way to Boost Brain Power? Wait and see what NIDA Director says on 60 Minutes: http://bit.ly/9AVfP9
- Sara Bellum Blog Tackles Energy Drinks: A Boost in the Wrong Direction? http://bit.ly/boa8KI
- Check out new NIDA-supported research on damage to the heart muscle as result of steroid use for body building: http://bit.ly/boX6gz
- NIDA director Dr. Nora Volkow talks to Addiction Inbox blog at Blending Conference: http://bit.ly/a7egu3
- What’s this new drug “Meow Meow”? Find out in Dr. Steven Grant’s interview with AP. View the story http://bit.ly/a9tSmC
NIDA’s got a lot of company on Twitter: from Ashton Kutcher to Oprah and Selena Gomez to organizations like the White House, the NFL and TMZ. They’re all tweeting these days. You can access Twitter online or on your mobile phone.
So… Do you tweet? Would you ever?
Find us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/NIDAnews.
We live in a world obsessed with multitasking—people are watching TV while texting their friends while updating their Facebook status while tweeting about the latest celebrity gossip. And some people will even multitask behind the wheel of a car—not real smart, and reeeaaally dangerous. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has even launched a Web site devoted to raising awareness about the problem of “distracted driving:” Distraction.gov.
What Is Distracted Driving?
Distracted driving is any non-driving activity someone does while driving that could potentially distract them and raise the risk of crashing. Texting and talking on the phone definitely fall into this category, but so does drunk and drugged driving. DOT reports that younger, inexperienced drivers under age 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
Drugged Driving = Danger
Marijuana happens to be the most prevalent illegal drug detected in impaired drivers, fatally injured drivers, and motor vehicle crash victims. That’s partly because the THC in marijuana can alter perception, attention, reaction time, judgment, and other faculties required for safe driving.
Hopefully, you would never drive under the influence of an illegal drug or alcohol—but that doesn’t mean other drivers are making the same positive choices. If you’ve got your eyes on your phone, you might miss something important right in front of you, like a stopped car or someone driving under the influence—weaving, speeding, crawling, or crossing the center line.
So do yourself, your passengers, and other travelers a favor: put your phone down while you’re driving and don’t get high and get behind the wheel.
Visit Distraction.gov for more facts and stats on distracted driving.
Read more NIDA information about drugged driving.
