Several new studies that employ high-tech tools like MRIs are proving that the human brain is not fully developed until age 25 or so. Some scientists, such as Jay Giedd, head of the brain imaging project at the National Institute of Health and Dr. Deborah Yurgelun-Todd of Harvard Medical School are using this new data to urge changes in public policies. They and others argue that teenagers should not be allowed to drive, enlist in the military or vote.

However, other scientists are looking at the evidence in a different way. They argue that people ages 35 to 54 years old are the ones who behave the most irresponsibly. Here are some statistics:

Since 1975, there has been a 550% increase in the number of deaths by drug overdose among the middle-aged. Over 370,000 middle-aged people were admitted to emergency rooms in 2004 for drug overdoses, and 18,250 died, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

Middle-aged people are 30% more at risk for automobile accidents than teenagers.

There are 21 million middle-aged binge drinkers - twice the percent of college-aged binge drinkers. Binge drinking is defined as five drinks in a row taken once a week.

About four million middle-aged people were arrested in 2004 - one million committed violent crimes and 500,000 involved drug arrests. There has been a 600% increase in the number of middle-aged people in American prisons since 1975.

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Labels: addiction, adults, binge_drinking