Maternal smoking linked to child's marijuana use

Children with mothers who smoke cigarettes are more likely to use marijuana by early adulthood. This can be partly explained by the fact that children of smokers were more likely to be rebellious and aggressive as teenagers. Previous studies have found that children of smokers are more likely than their peers to take up the habit themselves. However, less is known about whether or not parents' smoking and drinking habits are related to their children's marijuana use. Many people who use the drug first try it as a teenager, and family environment plays a pivotal role in developing a teenager's behaviour. To study the relationship, researchers from the University of Queensland in Brisbane used data from a project that began following a group of pregnant women in Brisbane between 1981 and 1983. The women had completed questionnaires on their health and lifestyle habits — including smoking and drinking — while they were pregnant, and at several other points as their children grew up. Nearly 3,200 children, who were 21 years old, were followed-up since birth. The findings suggested that children who were exposed to their mothers' smoking as teenagers were twice as likely as their peers to be frequent marijuana users at the age of 21 years. The children of smokers were also more likely to start smoking cigarettes by the age of 14 years. An analysis found a relationship between maternal drinking and child marijuana, but further analysis indicated this relationship was not statistically significant. Linking early smoking to a higher likelihood of marijuana use indicates that young people's substance abuse is often a consequence of the learning process. Children who are exposed to parents' smoking cigarettes may learn this behaviour. In other words, parents who continue to smoke cigarettes during the development of the child not only put themselves at risk of health problems, but also may play as a role model for the children who live with them. Thus, prevention programs that address maternal and adolescent tobacco use and adolescent externalising behaviour should be considered as strategies to reduce cannabis use by young adults.