POT SMOKERS JUST AS HEALTHY: STUDY

Frequent marijuana users devour up to 40% more calories than their
peers but are no more likely be be fat, a new study suggests.

Americans aged 20 to 59 who smoked marijuana at least once a month
indulged in more beer, liquor, potato chips, cheese and pork than
non-users, researchers report in the journal Public Health Nutrition
today.

The marijuana smokers also ate fewer fresh fruits or vegetables and
smoked nearly three times as many tobacco cigarettes as non-users. But
the study found their habits were not a detriment to their nutritional
health.

The marijuana users showed normal levels of vitamins and minerals in
spite of their vices, and slightly lower body mass indexes than their
peers. (Body mass index compares a person's weight to their height to
gauge obesity).

"That is the surprising finding," said Dr. Ellen Smit, lead author of
the study and a professor of medicine at the University at Buffalo.

One explanation is that smoking marijuana is thought to increase a
person's metabolic rate.