Sub-title: Trend "has flipped" says researcher 
 
 Picture: 
 
 It used to be that the kids out in the bushes smoking marijuana were the trouble makers, but new research shows that this group academically outperforms their peers who smoke both marijuana and tobacco. 
 
 In one of the largest, long-term studies of substance co-use among teens, Dalla Lana School of Public Health researchers examined trends of tobacco and marijuana use from 1981 to 2011 and found that marijuana smokers receive higher grades than those who smoke both substances. 
 
 “In the past, cannabis use was associated with more problematic behaviours, but this trend has flipped,” said Michael Chaiton, assistant professor in epidemiology and public health policy at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. 
 
 “Youth tobacco users are likely to have poor academic performance and engage in socially deviant behaviours, like vandalism, theft or assault.” 
 
 The study, published in the Journal of School Health’s March issue, analyzed self-report survey data from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s Ontario Student Drug Use and Health Survey, including a total of 38,331 students in grades 7, 9 and 11. A user and/or co-user are deﬁned as someone reporting daily tobacco and/or marijuana use in the past month. Poor academic performance, which is linked to increased risk of tobacco, marijuana and a variety of other risky behaviours, was measured as an indicator of problem behaviour to see if it was related to substance use or co-use. 
 
 Marijuana use peaked about a decade ago, but overall attitudes towards the drug have become more normalized, so many teens see it as safer than tobacco, although this is not inherently true, researchers say. Smoking rates have declined by about six per cent among school-aged youth in the last decade, but researchers believe smoking cigarettes has become a new signal of social deviation in this group. 
 
 “Youth smokers are becoming a more vulnerable population with high levels of substance use and mental health comorbidities,” said Chaiton, who is also a scientist at the Ontario Tobacco Research Unit. 
 
 Other interesting study insights include: 
 
 92 per cent of teen cigarette smokers also use marijuana; 
 
 25 per cent of teen marijuana users also smoke cigarettes; 
 
 In 1999, co-use was at an all-time high at 12 per cent, with boys in lower grades most likely to be a part of this group; 
 
 Students with lower academic performance were more likely to be co-users than users of either substance alone; 
 
 There’s a growing “straight edge” cohort, with 90 per cent of Ontario students not using either substance. 
 
 “Drug prevention programs should be aligned with student realities, which means acknowledging and addressing patterns of co-use,” said Maritt Kirst, co-author of the study and assistant professor in social and behavioural health sciences at U of T’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. 
 
 “This study identifies which youth are most at risk and can help public health professionals tailor prevention programs accordingly.” 
 
 Study authors also suggest that marijuana prevention programs may take a renewed focus on the drug’s harmful effects instead of underscoring the drug’s illegal status – the traditional approach of such programs. 
 
 Nicole Bodnar is a writer with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. 

 
 
 Andrea Janus, CTVNews.ca 
 
 
 
 
 
 Students who only smoke marijuana do better at school than classmates who smoke just tobacco, or who smoke both tobacco and pot, says a new study, which tracked substance use among teens over 30 years. 
 
 Researchers from the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health analyzed data from a survey administered to nearly 39,000 Ontario students between 1981 and 2011. The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health asked students in Grades 7, 9 and 11 about their tobacco and marijuana use, and their academic performance. 
 
 The study found that marijuana-only users did better at school than their counterparts who smoked only cigarettes or who smoked both cigarettes and marijuana. However, the findings reflect the fact that fewer students smoke tobacco today compared to 30 years ago, and those that do make up a very “marginalized, vulnerable” population, says lead study author Michael Chaiton, assistant professor in epidemiology and public health policy. 
 
 About 92 per cent of tobacco users also use marijuana, the study found. However, only 25 per cent of marijuana uses also smoke tobacco. 
 
 “It’s better relatively,” Chaiton says of marijuana-only users’ academic performance. 
 
 Marijuana users don’t outperform non-users, Chaiton says. 
 
 “Now there is a distinction between marijuana use and co-use with other substances, and it’s an indication of the changing social norms. So it’s not an absolute that they do better; it’s that social norms have changed and the population of people who use marijuana are more like the general population.” 
 
 The study was published in the March edition of the Journal of School Health. 
 
 In the 1980s, when the study began, there was less marijuana use among students. And those who did smoke pot also smoked tobacco. At the time, pot use among tobacco smokers was very low. 
 
 Thirty years later, that had switched, the researchers found. As tobacco use declined, marijuana use shot up. And among the remaining tobacco users, marijuana use is now very high. 
 
 One reason for the statistical switch, Chaiton says, is the effectiveness of anti-tobacco messaging in recent years. 
 
 “The population of youth smokers right now is one that is a fairly marginalized population, quite a vulnerable population, so they are at high rates of cannabis use but also of other drugs and other behaviours,” Chaiton says. “So the change in trends is that this is a social phenomenon. This is not that tobacco is causing this, it is something that has changed socially in the role of tobacco in society.” 
 
 Now that marijuana smoking has become more of a social norm, Chaiton says, programs aimed at keeping youth from risky behaviours such as drug abuse must take into account two factors: that more students now smoke marijuana compared to 30 years ago, and that students who smoke tobacco are more likely to use marijuana or other drugs and engage in at-risk behaviours such as vandalism and theft. 
 
 As marijuana use becomes more prevalent and socially acceptable, Chaiton says, the focus must turn to developing programs for youth that properly educate them on the risks. 
 
 Tobacco and marijuana are “similar drugs in many different ways,” Chaiton notes, and “people dramatically underestimate the risks associated with cannabis use, particularly among youth.” 
 
 “I would argue that we need to start talking about them in the same way and start addressing them in the same types of interventions,” he says, particularly given the growing public discussions about decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana. 
 
 “If we do legalize or change the regulations in dramatic ways, that does change the social environment again and that can, as we’ve seen a number of times, cause big shifts in youth and we could see another big shift in marijuana use among youth.”
– A little more ammo for the pro-marijuana crowd: A major study out of Canada finds that students who smoke pot do better in school than those who smoke tobacco or indulge in both, reports CTV. But, no, it's not about marijuana making kids smarter. In fact, kids who abstain from smoking of any kind do best of all. Chalk it up instead to the growing acceptance of pot. "It’s an indication of the changing social norms," says the lead author of the study from the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. "So it’s not an absolute that they do better; it’s that social norms have changed, and the population of people who use marijuana are more like the general population.” The study looked at data over the last 30 years and compared kids in grades 7, 9, and 11 in 1981 with their counterparts in 2011. As the U of T News puts it, "it used to be that the kids out in the bushes smoking marijuana were the trouble makers," but the trend seems to have reversed itself. Now the kids smoking tobacco exclusively are the "marginalized" ones. The study found that 92% of students who smoke cigarettes also smoke pot, but only 25% of pot smokers also smoke tobacco. The biggest group was the 90% who reported smoking neither, and researchers say that's the way to go. "People dramatically underestimate the risks associated with cannabis use, particularly among youth," says the UT scientist.