STUDY FINDS LINK BETWEEN SMOKING AND DRUG USE IN TEENS

Kids who smoke are likely to pick up more bad habits than those who
don't, a new study suggests.

Kids who smoke are likely to pick up more bad habits than those who
don't, a new study suggests.

The study, released by the Canada Addictions Survey, says kids who
smoke are more likely to drink and abuse alcohol and to use cannabis
and other illicit substances, a finding that comes as little surprise
to Daryl Arneson, adolescent youth outpatient counsellor at the
Thorpe Outpatient Services in Lloydminster.

"For us on the front lines dealing with kids, we've known for some
time that there was a connection between tobacco and other drug use,"
said Arneson. "I don't think there were many formal studies done like
the one that was just completed with exact numbers it seems to
validate what we've sensed all along; there is a connection between
tobacco, alcohol and marijuana."

While neither the study or Arneson would go as far to peg tobacco as
a "gateway drug," he said it is more indicative of a personality type
that is common.

"I would probably say kids that are vulnerable to tobacco have a
pretty strong need to fit in and belong, and maybe struggle in that
department and become more vulnerable to high-risk behaviours," said Arneson.

The report revealed about 26 per cent of 15 to 19-year-olds had
smoked cigarettes in the year preceding the study; 97.7 per cent of
smoking youth also reported drinking alcohol in the past year,
compared to 75.3 per cent of non-smoking youth; 60 per cent of
smoking youth also met the criteria for hazardous drinking as defined
by the World Health Organization compared with only 23 per cent of
non-smoking youth. As well, 31 per cent of smoking youth under 20
also reported using cocaine, heroin, methemphetamines, ecstasy or
hallucinogens in the past year compared with only 3.5 per cent of
non-smoking youth.

Arneson said this study should be enough for parents to take their
child's smoking habit as something potentially more serious.

"It's not a for sure thing, but parents need to be aware of the risk
that there seems to be a link between tobacco and other drug use, so
if the child is involved with tobacco, parents need to realize there
may be a risk of them being pulled into the alcohol and marijuana,"
said Arneson. "They need to be vigilant to observe what's happening
with the child."