Smart children more likely to smoke cannabis

A new study has found that bright children are more likely to take up drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis than their less gifted peers in their teenage years.

High academic achievement at the age of 11 has been linked to a lower risk of smoking in adolescence but smarter pupils were also more likely to drink alcohol and smoke cannabis, the study says. 

Researchers at University College in London examined data involving more than 6059 adolescents across the UK. Information on their academic prowess was measured at age 11, and collated with health behaviours from age 13/14 to 16/17 - deemed to be early adolescence - and from age 18/19 to 19/20, which are classed as late adolescence.

The study, found that high-achieving pupils were less likely to smoke cigarettes than their less gifted peers but were more likely to drink alcohol during their early teens.

During their late teens, smart children were more than twice as likely to drink alcohol regularly and persistently than those who were not as clever.

Also, smart pupils were 50 per cent more likely to use cannabis occasionally and nearly twice as likely to use it on a regular basis than their less gifted peers.

And though they were more likely to drink, smart children seems to understand their limits - and actually had lower rates of hazardous drinking (more than once a week on average) than their peers.

"Our finding that adolescents with high academic ability are less likely to smoke but more likely to drink alcohol regularly and use cannabis is broadly consistent with the evidence base on adults," said author Dr James Williams.

Though the study doesn't prove the cause and effect either way, but the researchers propose it could be:

• intelligent people are more likely to gravitate towards mind-altering substances
• wealthier parents are more likely to consume, and better able to afford, alcohol and marijuana, and use them safely
• they're also more likely to be non-smokers, and pass this trait onto their children
• less-able children didn't realise 'cannabis' was the drug they were using, so answered the questions wrong
• brainier kids are more likely to be accepted into older social groups with better access to restricted substances.

They found that these patterns persisted into adulthood and would seem to refute the notion that academic prowess was associated with a greater tendency to "experiment" temporarily with these substances.

The study is published in the journal BMJ Open. 

Press Association