TEENAGERS ON CANNABIS BEFORE CIGARETTES, STUDY SHOWS

SCOTTISH teenagers are hooked on cannabis well before they have even lit
their first cigarette, new research has revealed.

Until now, it was thought that it was cigarette smoking which led
youngsters to try harder drugs. However, new research shows cannabis use is
increasing, with nearly a third of Scottish teenagers having smoked a joint
in the last year.

Over the last 12 months, academics at Edinburgh University have been
studying Scottish teenagers' habits and views on smoking.

Amanda Amos, leader of the research, yesterday said the new trend was
unexpected.

"Many of the youngsters we spoke to, especially boys who are regular
cannabis smokers, said they never intended to start smoking, and had done
so almost accidentally," she said. "The cannabis youth culture is very
social, and it is easy for them to just slip into smoking. While one rolls
a joint, the others have a cigarette."

Dr Amos will present her findings at an anti-smoking conference in
Edinburgh today.

Ms Amos said Edinburgh University carried out two studies into the smoking
patterns of two groups of teenagers ranging from 15-16 and 16-19 in
Edinburgh and Lothian.

"In our first group we looked at 16 to 19-year-olds where we found the
majority to be smoking cannabis daily. A significant number of this group
strayed into smoking cigarettes almost without intending to do so.

"Our next study showed many kids, especially the boys, had started to smoke
cannabis to reinforce their daily cigarette intake. Most of them did feel
as if they were becoming more and more addicted to both.

"In the main, teenagers are ambivalent about quitting cigarette smoking,
whereas none of them intend to give up smoking cannabis. By and large, they
saw giving up as something which they would do in the future."