POT SMOKING, RISKY BEHAVIOUR LINKED

But One Teen Says of Major Study: 'It's Not the Pot That Makes Them Do
Risky Things'

Susan Lazaruk The Province; with News Services

Teens who stay out all night without permission, steal and vandalize
property are about twice as likely as other teens to use pot, a major study
of Canada's youth has found.

"The incidence of marijuana use was 1.8 to 2.6 times higher among youth who
reported participating in risky behaviours such as staying out all night
without permission, taking money from parents and damaging others'
property," the survey found.

"Among 16 and 17-year-olds who reported staying out all night without
permission, 72 per cent reported that they had tried smoking marijuana
while the remaining 28 per cent reported that they had not. For 16 and
17-year-olds who reported that they had taken money from their parents, 64
per cent reported that they smoked marijuana, and for those who reported
that they had damaged others' property, 69 per cent reported that they had
smoked marijuana."

Yesterday's results, part of the fourth cycle of the National Longitudinal
Survey of Children and Youth survey, are based on interviews in 2000-2001
with 2,250 teenagers aged 16 and 17 who have been followed since they were
10 or 11 years old.

Dr. Roger Tonkin of the McCreary Centre Society, a non-profit organization
in Burnaby that research youths' health issues, said the results mirror
what other studies have found.

"Borderline criminal, anti-social behaviour of the type described in the
study, that's well known to be associated with a drug culture, which in
schools is mainly a marijuana culture," Tonkin said. "You can't say
marijuana causes this behaviour but we have found that it's associated with
it."

Monica Davis, 17, of Vancouver, said, "I think it's certain (types of)
individuals who smoke pot. It's not the pot that makes them do risky things."

Rugby coach Ed Wight, a father of two boys aged 13 and 14, said the study
results aren't surprising.

In light of the talk in Ottawa about decriminalizing marijuana, he makes
sure he talks to his boys about the dangers of drug use.

"It's up to the individual child to be well-informed so they can avoid the
peer pressure," he said.

A group of students from The Vinery alternative school in Kitsilano,
including Paul Anthonsen, Cory Bedwell and Jesse Gallaher, all 16, said it
wasn't unusual for pot and poor behaviour to be linked.

In the survey, nearly 30 per cent of the teens said they have taken money
from their parents without permission -- a quarter of them saying they had
done it three times or more over the previous year.

The survey found that 44 per cent of respondents reported they had smoked
marijuana while 26 per cent reported having stayed out all night without
permission.

While 95 per cent of those surveyed said they were happy and optimistic
about their future, 24 per cent reported symptoms of depression ranging
from poor appetite or restless sleep to loss of optimism or loneliness.

Satya Brink of Human Resources Development Canada said the survey examines
an age when teen-agers are more likely to take risks.

"It's a stage of life when children do all sorts of little things like
that," she said, adding it doesn't mean they are destined for a life of crime.