MARIJUANA SMOKING LINKED TO GUM DISEASE -- STUDY

"These are your gums. These are your gums on drugs." That may become
the newest TV spot on dope's dangers with a new study linking regular
marijuana use with a significant risk of destructive gum disease and
tooth loss.

Researchers found that young people who smoke cannabis 41 or more
times per year -- or almost once a week -- are up to three times more
likely than non-users to have serious periodontal disease by age 32.

"People lose the support around the bone, the support around their
teeth and they may lose their teeth to periodontal disease," says Dr.
James Beck, a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill School of Dentistry.

"It's this idea of having a smouldering infection in your
mouth."

What's more, growing research suggests people with gum disease release
bacterial products into the bloodstream, increasing their risk of
"systemic" diseases such as heart disease and stroke. Gum disease has
even been linked with an increased risk of pancreatic cancer.

Cannabis is the second most commonly used drug among Canadian youth,
behind alcohol. According to a drug use survey by the Centre for
Addiction and Mental Health, 26 per cent of Ontario students used
cannabis at least once in the past year. Ten per cent of pot smokers
are daily users, and use increases with each grade, from four per cent
of seventh graders, to 45 per cent of 12th.

The new study, published in this week's issue of the Journal of the
American Medical Association, included 903 people born in New Zealand
between 1972 and 1973. The group reported their cannabis use during
the previous year when they were 18, 21, 26 and 32, and had their
teeth checked twice, when they were 26 and 32. Researchers assigned
participants to one of three exposure groups: no exposure, some
exposure (one to 40 occasions of cannabis use reported during the
previous year) and high exposure (41 or more occasions of pot use).

After controlling for tobacco smoking, infrequent dental check-ups and
plaque, compared with those who had never smoked cannabis, those in
the highest using group had a 60-per-cent increased risk for having
one or more sites with four millimetres or greater pockets or
attachment loss, and a three-times greater risk for having one or more
sites with five millimetres or more attachment loss.