Stoners Are 'Five Times More Likely to Become Alcoholics'

A new study has found that if you smoke weed, you're five times more likely to become an alcoholic.

Before you dismiss the findings, you should know that two American universities were involved in the study which used data from more than 27,000 adults.

Damn.

via GIPHY

Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the City University of New York conducted the study and used data from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions.

People who had smoked marijuana at the first assessment and again over the following three years were five times more likely to develop an alcohol use problem.

This was then compared with those who had not smoked marijuana. Those who struggled with alcohol but didn't smoke cannabis were significantly more likely to be in recovery from alcohol use disorders three years later.

The associate professor who led the study, Renee Goodwin, told EurekAlert: "Our results suggest that cannabis use appears to be associated with an increased vulnerability to developing an alcohol use disorder, even among those without any history of this.

"Marijuana use also appears to increase the likelihood that an existing alcohol use disorder will continue over time.

"If future research confirms these findings, investigating whether preventing or delaying first use of marijuana might reduce the risk of developing alcohol use disorders among some segments of the population may be worthwhile."

You can read the full report here.

Topics: Study, Alcohol, Cannabis, Marijuana, weed

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay has been a Senior Journalist for Tyla and LADbible since 2015. She started her career writing obituaries and funeral guides online. Since then, her work has been published in a wide variety of national and local news sites. She is part of the BBC's Generation project and has spoken about young people, politics and mental health on television, radio and online. Contact her - [email protected]

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