POSITIVE EFFECTS FOUND FOR POT USERS

Youths Found To Have Better Relations With Peers And Good Grades

(Reuters) - A study of more than 5,000 youngsters in Switzerland has
found those who smoked marijuana do as well or better in some areas
as those who don't, researchers said yesterday.

But the same was not true for those who used both tobacco and
marijuana, who tended to be heavier users of the drug, said the
report from J.C. Suris and colleagues at the University of Lausanne.

The study did not confirm the hypothesis that those who abstained
from marijuana and tobacco functioned better overall, the authors said.

In fact, those who used only marijuana were "more socially driven ...
significantly more likely to practise sports and they have a better
relationship with their peers" than abstainers, it said.

"Moreover, even though they are more likely to skip class, they have
the same level of good grades; and although they have a worse
relationship with their parents, they are not more likely to be
depressed" than abstainers, it added.

The study, published in the November issue of the Archives of
Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, was based on a 2002 survey of 5,263
Swiss students age 16 to 20, of whom 455 smoked marijuana only, 1,703
used both marijuana and tobacco, and 3,105 abstained from both.

The report said while marijuana use has declined among U.S.
adolescents, it has increased in recent years among the same age
group in Switzerland and other European countries.

The study said while one theory holds that using legal drugs like
nicotine and alcohol opens the door to marijuana and other illegal
drug use, recent research also has found marijuana may come first and
it "may reinforce cigarette smoking or lead to nicotine addiction."

In the study, about half of the tobacco and marijuana group had used
the latter drug 10 times or more in the previous month vs. 56 per
cent in the marijuana-only group who had used the drug only once or
twice in the same time period.

Those who use only marijuana were less likely to have started using
that drug before 15 compared with tobacco users, and the
tobacco-marijuana group was more likely to have abused alcohol, the study said