A new study from University of Toronto public health researchers finds that middle school and high school students who smoke only marijuana do better in school than their peers who smoke tobacco. The study, in the Journal of School Health, isn't a small one, either — lead author Michael Chaiton and his team examined 30 years of data involving about 39,000 Ontario 7th, 9th, and 11th graders who participated in surveys from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
What the study doesn't conclude, though, is that marijuana is better for you than tobacco or even makes you a better student. First of all, 92 percent of tobacco users in the study also smoke weed (while only 25 percent of marijuana tokers also smoke tobacco). Marijuana-only users' academic performance is "relatively better" than that of tobacco and tobacco/pot smokers, explains Chaiton, because the students who still smoke cigarettes these days come from "a fairly marginalized population, quite a vulnerable population."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Will Japan’s first female prime minister defy sumo’s ban on women?Under the Radar Sanae Takaichi must decide whether to break with centuries of tradition and step into the ring to present the trophy
-
Political cartoons for November 16Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include presidential pardons, the Lincoln penny, and more
-
The vast horizons of the Puna de AtacamaThe Week Recommends The ‘dramatic and surreal’ landscape features volcanoes, fumaroles and salt flats
-
Blue Origin launches Mars probes in NASA debutSpeed Read The New Glenn rocket is carrying small twin spacecraft toward Mars as part of NASA’s Escapade mission
-
Dinosaurs were thriving before asteroid, study findsSpeed Read The dinosaurs would not have gone extinct if not for the asteroid
-
SpaceX breaks Starship losing streak in 10th testspeed read The Starship rocket's test flight was largely successful, deploying eight dummy satellites during its hour in space
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
New York plans first nuclear plant in 36 yearsSpeed Read The plant, to be constructed somewhere in upstate New York, will produce enough energy to power a million homes
