TEEN POT-SMOKERS ALSO RISK-TAKERS

StatsCan Survey Tracks Adolescents

Addiction Centre Results Similar

Close to half of Canadian 16- and 17-year-olds have smoked marijuana -- and
those that did were more apt to indulge in other risky behaviour as well,
according to a new survey.

Marijuana use was at least twice as high among youth who reported doing
such things as staying out all night without permission, taking money from
their parents or damaging others' property, Statistics Canada said
yesterday in a preliminary look at the latest cycle of an ongoing survey of
children and youth.

The national survey first looked at 3,400 of these youths when they were 10
and 11. About 1,800 took part in the latest round of questions in
2000-2001. StatsCan plans to use their responses to produce an in-depth
analytical paper on late adolescence this fall.

In the glimpse of the survey released yesterday, about 27 per cent of the
16- and 17-year-olds said they had stayed out all night without permission
and 29 per cent admitted they had taken money from parents.While 44 per
cent over-all admitted using marijuana in the past year, marijuana use was
1.8 to 2.6 times higher among youth who also reported other risky
behaviours, the report said.

The survey "wasn't attempting to establish a cause and effect between the
two," said StatsCan analyst Teresa Abada, "but those who reported risky
behaviour were also more likely to smoke marijuana."

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health found almost identical results
on marijuana use in its 2001 survey of high school students. About 45.7 per
cent of Grade 11 students (normally 16-year-olds) and 43.5 per cent of
Grade 12 students reported using marijuana in the past year.

Over-all, 28.6 per cent of high school students had used marijuana, more
than double the 12.7 per cent in 1993 but still lower than in 1979 when
marijuana use peaked.

As well as taking risks, youth are also more likely to report symptoms of
depression, anxiety and distress as they grow older, the survey found.

While only 9 per cent of 12- and 13-year-olds reported some symptoms of
depression, that reached 24 per cent among 16- and 17-year-olds. The
symptoms included poor appetite, restless sleep, loss of optimism about the
future and loneliness.

But 95 per cent said they are generally healthy and optimistic about their
future, even if their parents had divorced or remarried in the past six years.