Health News and Information

The worst consequence of marijuana use may be that it opens the door to harder drugs. Dr. Richard R. Clayton of the University of Kentucky in Lexington says flatly that marijuana “causes” heroin and cocaine use. He cites figures showing that the more marijuana a person smokes the more likely he or she is to use heroin or cocaine or both.

Dr. Denise Kandel of the New York State Psychiatric Institute in Manhattan says that “cause” is too strong a word because only a small fraction of marijuana smokers go on to use other drugs. But, she points out, her 1971 and 1980 studies of 8,000 public high school students in New York State reveal that nearly all cocaine and heroin users start with marijuana.

In the late 1970s a survey of 17,000 high seniors by the National Institute Drug Abuse, found young people understand that regular use of any drug carries a high risk. But, in a curious way, they don’t feel at risk themselves. When they buy drugs on the street, they do not know the quality, cleanliness, dose, or the actual chemical they will be putting into their bodies.

*89/266/5*

GENERAL HEALTH