A new study shows that students who only smoke marijuana
performed “relatively” better than students who only smoke cigarettes, or who
smoke both cigarettes and pot – but that pot users didn’t out-perform
non-users.
Canadian researchers from the University of
Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health tracked substance use among 39
thousand teens, in grades 7, 9 and 11, from 1981 to 2011 and analyzed academic
performance. The study was published in the March edition of the Journal
of School Health.
The researchers said the findings reflect the
fact that fewer teens use tobacco today than they did 30 years ago. The
students who do smoke tobacco today make up a very “marginalized, vulnerable”
population according to lead study author Michael Chaiton, assistant professor
in epidemiology and public health policy.
The study found that approximately 92 percent
of tobacco users also smoke marijuana, but only 25 percent of marijuana users
also smoke cigarettes.
Researchers point out that anti-tobacco
campaigns have been successful in reducing smoking rates for young people, but
Chaiton reported that the teens who do use tobacco are highly vulnerable to
other risky behavior such as vandalism and theft.
“This is not that tobacco is causing this, it
is something that has changed socially in the role of tobacco in society,”
Chaiton said.
Chaiton notes that tobacco and marijuana are
“similar drugs in many different ways,” and added “people dramatically underestimate
the risks associated with cannabis use, particularly among youth,” and he
recommended action as decriminalization or legalization efforts spread.
“If we do legalize or change the regulations
in dramatic ways, that does change the social environment again and that can,
as we’ve seen a number of times, cause big shifts in youth and we could see
another big shift in marijuana use among youth,” he said.
Kimberley A. Johnson (BIO) is
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