Cannabis linked to use of amphetamines

Doctors have tracked 2,000 Victorian high school students for 10 years and found those who were smoking cannabis at the age of 15 were as much as 15 times more likely to be using amphetamines in their early 20s.

The work, to be published in the August edition of the journal Addiction also dispels the image of ice and speed users as young, wealthy party-goers.

"That's something which people have speculated on for decades and decades - that there was some progression in the way in which young people are introduced to drugs. You start with tobacco and alcohol, move to cannabis, once you feel comfortable with the former, once you feel comfortable with cannabis, you're more likely to move onto other drugs. And that's certainly the progression that we found with amphetamine use," one of the report's authors, Professor George Patton, said.

"So the message here is not that this was a group of sort of aspirant party-going young adults who didn't have a history of some other use. These amphetamine users look very much like our very heavy cannabis users, and those who are using other illicit drugs.

Professor Patton says there are a number of things we can learn from this research.

"One, I think we need to remain vigilant about drug use. We've seen tremendous rises in amphetamine use in a relatively short space of time, a lot more people using. If they were to move on and young people were to be using amphetamines more frequently, then that would be a major problem," he said.

"But, look, I think the message is that use of drugs to excess, misuse of drugs, is something which really begins back in the teens. That's where we need to have a major focus."

Professor Patton says the research also does away with the idea of harmless experimentation and soft drugs.

"Well, yeah. Even experimentation at a young age is a problem," he said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Wed, 18 July 2007
Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia -Web)
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Copyright: 2007 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
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