Video games -- a gateway to drugs?

by James Ransom-Wiley { Sep 22nd 2005 at 11:30AM }

Stoned Sponge Bob So let's get this straight… "Visual media" can be addictive. But if we "neutralize harmful media messages," we learn critical thinking skills. We can use these skills to combat drug addiction. But, if we fail to "neutralize harmful media messages" (i.e. play violent video games) then we never develop proper decision-making skills. And in turn, we are more likely to develop a drug addiction. Therefore, video games are a gateway to drug abuse. Right?

It's frightening to think that a so-called expert has stated as much in his keynote address at a substance abuse conference. Steve Johnson, the director of Question Why Youth Empowerment Center of Eastern North Carolina, also described an incident in which a young person shot and killed some of his classmates. Johnson explained that a "federal expert" concluded that the shooting was so precise that government sharpshooters could not duplicate it. So where did the young man learn his lethal accuracy? That's right, from "extensive hours" playing Doom. Here are some choice Johnson quotes:

"When you play football regularly, you develop muscle. When our kids play these games they develop something in their heads that can't be good."
"We're always so quick to jump up and say, 'I'm an American; don't tell me what I should do. [But if] my freedom leads to my death, then I ain't free."

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

SickNic @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Give me liberty or give me death. It all comes down to this: Paranting. If you catch your kids doing drugs, or contemplating this, a swift ass kicking will get them off it. Parents are too affraid to dicipline their own kids nowadays.

What are videogames going to be blamed for next?
Tomorrow's Headline:
Videogames caused the war in Iraq!

Kevin @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I have been playing videogames since I was 9 years old (now 19) and I have never so much as lighten up a cigarette. What an overly-generalized claim that was clearly only created with the intention of getting public reaction.

Pickypants @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

"[But if] my freedom leads to my death, then I ain�t free."

I can't believe he used "aint" in a press conference.

Do you think this quote can be taken out of context? If my freedom (Being American) leads to death (In a war in Iraq) then I ain't free.

Bingo. He's not talking about videogames at all!

GTgamer @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

"Tomorrow's Headline: Videogames caused the war in Iraq!"

Tonight on CNN : Jack Thompson takes on "America's Army"

I had some ass kicking parents...I don't even drink (my choice, not theirs). haha. It's amazing how much people want to pin on video games.

Yes, all of life's social ills began innocently enough with Pong, but then along came Pac Man...that insane pill popping freak. From there, it was all downhill. Give me a break...

Jason @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Agreed. I've been playing games since I was 5... I'm now 25, and I don't drink, either.

People fear what they don't understand, I suppose, but those people should not speak in public until being properly educacated on what they're spouting off about.

Morgon @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Clu @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

"if my freedom leads to my death, then I ain�t free.�
Yes you are you F*cking idiot.

Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

You guys don't get it, it's okay to be a football player that rapes women, gets drunk and sniffs cocaine .. it's not okay to sit at home and smoke pot and be mellow. Yes, I'd much rather ensure my kids grow up making sure the only way to have a life is to win and be as agressive as possible ... so long as you can run fast with a ball and blow out your knees by the age of 30, everything is okay.

GlitchCog @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I started doing shrooms because I saw Mario do it.

Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

That article stated, and I quote:

"Doom" is a video game that requires the player to shoot and kill monsters that randomly appear from behind walls and doors of a haunted house.

Now answer me this fellow gamers...was I stoned back when I played DOOM? Cos I was sure the enemies weren't random and I sure as hell don't remember it being a haunted house. Maaaaaan, games have totally screwed me up - I can't even remember stuff anymore!

GlitchCog @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

"If my freedom leads to my death, then I ain't free."

Um... no, actually that's ass-backwards. If you have freedom, then you're free. If you "ain't free" then you don't have freedom. It's simple logic.

Oshi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I dunno about that. I like to play violent games, and I am pretty much drug free unless you're counting caffeine as a drug.

leojsoap @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I'm 20, 6'3" 200lbs. with a fairly strong build, I've been playing videogames since I was 9, I've never been in a fist fight, never had the urge to shoot a living thing, or blow anything up. same goes for drugs, never smoked/injected/huffed/drank anything.

I've had a few drinks in my day, but I certainly wouldn't account that on videogames, bottom line, I'm living proof that this is pure bullshit, kids are influenced by more that what displayed on the TV screen�

Albie @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Interesting football comment, especially in light of comments about Doom. Some gameplaying experts could equally say that football builds muscle and teaches actual, not virtual, "violence." In the grand scheme of things, there are 1000 times more muscle bound football players in schools terrorizing and beating the crap out of their peers than violent video gamers. Also, I bet there are a lot more drug using football players per-capita than video gamers (after all, steroids is a drug, which by the way, makes you more aggressive and violent). Just a stupid comment that ignores personal responsibility. Lets blame drug use or violence on everything but the person themself of their parents.

Shadow @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I've been playing games since before the first nintendo and I'll tell ya know that it wasn't video games that turned me into a pot head!

And the second thing about the kid playing doom and being able to shoot better then trained sharp sooters is a bunch of crap! I've hunted all my life and there is a HUGE difference between clicking a button with a mouse and makeing a good shot with a rifle there is no way a game can make your marksman ship better even if it is a gun game! There are to many veriabuls such as wind, weight, distance all of which don't exist in games!

If a kid kills someone because of a game its because he had issues before he picked up that controller! And if it makes then do drugs its because drugs are fun

Peter @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Yeah, honestly... this is ridiculously turgid.

Chris, et al re:football - spot on assessment. How is it that this is engrained in our culture and that violent, dominating behaviour relating to sport is propogated and nurtured yet video games are set up for scapegoating? Ridiculous.

As a matter of fact, I was a jock entirely thru jr high and the first years of highschool and I'll tell you I learned more about teamplay from Team Fortress Quake clan matches than I did running around on the field smashing into people. Because, like Chris and those other fellows said, the jock culture is a bunch of meatheads!

Shadow, re: guns, hunting, games. No kidding! I don't understand how people can equate sitting on your ass and pointing/clicking a fucking mouse (shifting it back and forth across an aggregate space of... 8 square inches?) to the activity of lugging around actual firearms and ammunition. Absurd. These people should be ostracized in public for being so goddamn stupid, not given free press.

bv @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

spongebob smokepants? what the...

Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Video games does more good than bad. Infact, people who play videogames have a tendancy to have a higher IQ, better judgement, and a very good memory.

If you see a gamer who has played games since early childhood you will notice that if he or she takes an IQ test it will be an easy thing to get an IQ of 130 and over because IQ tests are all about problem solving.

Google Nazi @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I forgot to add one thing...

It would seem that MMORPG's are the only genre of games that does more harm than good on contrary to most other games. My personal favorite genre is puzzle games :P

John Bennet Ramsey @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

a) if there was no video games I still would have done drugs. (Pot & Acid)
b) Half the people bitching do drugs (oxycontin for Rush Limbaugh or however you spell that losers name and he said "Anyone doing drugs should be in jail immediately", hypocrite!)
c) #1 is right, parents need to dish out a good ol fashion ass whoopin. Its all these crappy soccer moms up north that call CPS on kids that may have a bruise or two but its not like the parents beat them like an Iraqi prisoner (LOL!!). I say kids need a serious ass whippin sometimes and that is still going on ion the south (to a degree, PS I live in NY). But an beating the $hit out of your kids does not always work. Sometimes they are just bad and there is nothing you can do. I say chuck em out on their rear at that point.
d) Spongebob with a doob is funny. Stop acting like pot is even close to other drugs b/c I know first hand that it sure as hell isn't. No reason you should be able to go get lit in a bar drinking JD or wild turkey and you cant smoke a doobey. If I had to pick the lesser of 2 evils its Mary Jane hands down. Alcohol is the absolute worst (although I do like a margarita every now and then LOL!)
e)War on drugs is a failure. One day these scum bags that get a nice cut in washington will get busted b/c "you can't fool all the people all the time!" - Bob Marley

Nossy @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Randy Moss admitted to smoking pot once in a blue moon. Ricky William does an early retirement to pursue a life with drugs. Onterrio Smith caught with Whizzinator. I can't believe the dude used football as a reference to a drug prevention activity.

"...something in their heads that can't be good." Excuse me, what is that something?

Oh...wait a minute I think he is refering the all those gamers addicted to RedBull and the likes.

mark @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I blame my heroin and crack habbit on pacman.

David @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Games limit freedom because they may lead to death? Some books contain ideas which may, if followed, lead to death. Books should be banned. Paint and gasoline may lead to death--and so they should be banned. Rope may lead to death so it should be banned. Heavy bricks may lead to death and should be banned. Cars may lead to death and should be banned... Too mutch water can lead to death so water should be banned. Ideas can lead to death--so thinking should be banned.

I think we're finally on our way to creating a truly free society! Johnson shall lead the way!

John Bennet Ramsey @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Maybe you guys didn't see the HUGE picture of a pot leaf and a mets team member doing a bong hit with a bud so ridiculously big you couldn't really light it (it would take hours) on the front page of Newsday (a LI NY paper). I like sports and all but certainly the jocks are not the best influence. One of those typical American Moron Dads thinking their Son couldn't possibly be out there getting wasted and banging sluts (which was just about the sum of most of the jocks form my school. Jesus you should have seen prom night.)

Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

Spongebong Hemppants!

striegs @ Dec 18th 2005 10:00PM

I'm not about to say that there's no such thing as a stoned gamer, nor am I about to extrapolate upon my extensive theories of drug abuse in the Mushroom Kingdom, but there's no way in hell that video games coerce any more people into doing drugs than, say, any type of organized athletic competition.

(On my frisbee team, we call that "The Zen of Intoxication")

At my high school, the only gamers who regularly got high were the ones who played Tony Hawk and Madden exclusively. You see, unlike in frisbee, getting wasted before a match does not make you better in UT2004.