YOUNG POT USERS MORE RECKLESS

Study Probes Teens' Behaviour, Feelings

TORONTO -- Some teens engage in risky behaviour as they grow older and
sometimes this "is associated with marijuana smoking," Statistics Canada
said in a report yesterday. The agency also found that the majority of
teens surveyed said they're healthy and optimistic about their futures.

Among 16- and 17-year-olds surveyed in 2000-2001, "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
agency reported.

But Fred Mathews of Central Toronto Youth Services said he's concerned that
this will be interpreted as a cause and effect, rather than a correlation.

"You can't pin it on smoking pot," he said. "There's a lot more going on."

"Some teens are predisposed to risk-taking behaviours that have nothing to
do with smoking marijuana and that (drugs) are just coincidental to what
they are doing."

Marc Emery, president of the B.C. Marijuana party and publisher of Cannabis
Culture magazine, agrees and adds that all teens are "bored and hormonal
and will do things ... they crave and seek out sex, drugs, fast cars ...
any excitement." The survey said that "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 said they smoked marijuana, "and for those who
reported that they had damaged others' property, 69 per cent reported that
they had smoked marijuana."

Forty-four per cent of all teens questioned said they had smoked marijuana
in the 12 months prior to the survey.

"Marijuana is so pervasive among people under 20 that it is in every single
sub strata -- from honour students to dropouts to criminals to community
leaders. And they are all smoking marijuana to some degree," said Emery
from his home in Vancouver.

Mathews said he would like to know more about the statistics.

"We don't want to lose sight of the fact that this sample didn't look at
the correlation between marijuana use and positive behaviours as a
comparison such as the honour roll, athletics or arts." He also noted that
marijuana has been proven to diminish inhibitions, which can result in
everything from gaining the courage to get up and dance at a social
occasion to putting oneself at risk for such things as sexually transmitted
diseases and victimization.

Mathews added that these risks are the same for teens as well as adults,
the more prevalent users of marijuana.

The statistics are from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and
Youth developed jointly by Human Resources Development Canada and
Statistics Canada.

The survey follows the development of children in order to get more than a
snapshot of their lives. It measures the incidence of various factors that
influence this development, both positively and negatively.