Contraband smokers more likely to use illicit drugs : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Contraband smokers more likely to use illicit drugs

TORONTO: Teenagers who smoke contraband or illegally procured cigarettes are more likely to use illicit drugs, shows a study.

Contraband smokers more likely to use illicit drugs


TORONTO: Teenagers who smoke contraband or illegally procured cigarettes are more likely to use illicit drugs, shows a study.

“The rate of illicit drug use among the contraband smokers is higher than that among teenagers who smoke non-contraband cigarettes - sometimes double or triple the rate,” said Mesbah Sharaf, health economics lecturer at the University of Alberta in Canada.

For the study, the researchers used a national sample of 2,136 current smoker students in grades nine to 12 from the 2010-2011 Youth Smoking Survey conducted by Statistics Canada.

The researchers found that 22 per cent of all adolescent smokers in Canada used cocaine. Among those who smoked contraband cigarettes, 31 per cent reported using cocaine, whereas only 18 percent of non-contraband smokers reported using cocaine.

Use of MDMA (ecstasy) was also more prevalent among contraband smokers (45 percent) than among non-contraband smokers (33 per cent).

The rate of ketamine and amphetamine use among the contraband-smoking teenagers was almost three times as high as the rate among non-contraband-using teenagers - and more than six times as high for heroin.

“If, as we believe this study shows, contraband cigarette use is associated with illicit drug use, then intensive effort needs to be made to avoid this - by both government and tobacco companies,” Sharaf said.

The study appeared in The Journal of Primary Prevention. — IANS

Top News

Israel-Hamas conflict: US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on ceasefire in war-torn Gaza

Israel-Hamas conflict: US vetoes UN Security Council resolution on ceasefire in war-torn Gaza

Resolution gets the backing of 13 Council members, while the...

Meenakshi Lekhi denies approving Parliament Question on Hamas, calls for inquiry

Meenakshi Lekhi denies approving Parliament question on Hamas, calls for inquiry; MEA flags 'procedural error'

The written answer to unstarred question number 980, uploade...

25 years on, Punjab Police tell high court that encounter was staged

30 years on, Punjab Police tell high court that encounter in which militant was 'killed' was staged

Punjab Police tell Punjab and Haryana High Court that the in...

Odisha cash haul set to be ‘highest-ever’ with Rs 290 crore seizure

Odisha cash haul set to be 'highest-ever' with Rs 290 crore seizure

The tax department has deployed about 40 large and small mac...


Cities

View All