Alcoholic tendencies isn't all about genetics.
Young people who start alcohol or drug dependencies early on have a much harder time breaking the cycle of addiction. Almost half of regular drinkers who start before age 14 will become alcoholics.
Recent brain-imaging studies are showing that the teenage brain is a rapidly changing organ, and drugs and alcohol disrupt the renovation of the brain that occurs during adolescence.
The drugs or alcohol set up mistransmissions of the brain from an early age, making the possibility of addiction much greater (Tina Saey, "Drug Use Can Damage the Brain and Lead to Addiction," St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 1).
Genes have long been blamed for alcohol dependence, but recent studies in Finland and Missouri show that alcohol dependence can be developed simply by starting at an early age, regardless of a genetic tendency.
To keep young people from becoming addicted to brain-destroying substances requires strict parental monitoring and strong personal responsibility by the teens. Young people who don't start abusing a substance don't get addicted.
