POT STUDY MINES 'MUNCHY' PERIL

WASHINGTON -- Regular marijuana smokers consume up to 40 per cent more
calories than non-users -- mostly through alcohol, salty snacks and cheese
- -- and are more likely to smoke tobacco cigarettes, U.S. researchers say in
a new study.

But they are also no more likely to be overweight than non-users,
researchers found.

The study examined the nutritional habits of about 11,000 marijuana users
and non-users between the ages of 20 and 59, and appears today in the
journal Public Health Nutrition. The data came from a survey done by the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention between 1988 and 1994.

The study found that regular marijuana users consume 24 to 40 per cent more
calories than non-users. They consume more beer, liquor, soda, pork, cheese
and salted snacks such as potato chips, and less diet soda and fruit -- a
snacking phenomenon known as the "munchies" that researchers say could have
serious consequences for long-term health.

"Sparking an appetite would be good -- if it was sparking the right kind of
appetite. But we think alcohol accounts for the increased calories," said
Ellen Smit, lead author of the study.