Boys' Early Pot Use Linked to Adult Drug Abuse

(HealthDay News, May 18) Boys who start using marijuana before 15 are more likely to have a drug problem by the time they turn 28 years old, according to new research from the University of Montreal.

To come to this conclusion, researchers looked at data from about 1,000 teen boys who were followed since the early 1980s. The boys – between 13 and 17 years old – were asked each year if they had ever smoked marijuana. At ages 20 and 28 they were asked about their marijuana use or any other drug use.

Teen boys who started smoking the drug at an earlier age had a 68 percent risk of developing a drug abuse problem by age 28, according to the study.

"The odds of developing any drug abuse symptoms by age 28 … almost doubled each year if onset was before age 15," the study’s author wrote. Read more. 

Read the study: Age of Cannabis Use Onset and Adult Drug Abuse Symptoms: A Prospective Study of Common Risk Factors and Indirect Effects