Dear Netters;
Steve Connor in The Independent today(15 11 11) : Study finds links
between high IQ scores and drug misuse.
- bhuban
Intelligent children are more likely than their less intelligent peers
to use illegal drugs in later life, according to a study which has
found a link between high IQ scores and drug misuse.
Children who were in the top third in terms of IQ when aged five and 10
were found to be at significantly increased risk of having taken
illegal drugs such as cannabis and cocaine when they became older.
The study was based on interviews with nearly 8,000 people who were
part of the 1970 British Cohort Study, which involved measuring IQ
scores when each child was five and 10, and asking them about their
drug habits when they were 16 and 30.
By the age of 30, around one in three men (35.4 per cent) and one in
six women (15.9 per cent) had used cannabis while 8.6 per cent of men
and 3.6 per cent of women had used cocaine in the previous 12 months,
the study found. A similar pattern of behaviour was found for other
drugs, such as barbiturates, LSD and heroin. Boys in the top third in
terms of IQ when aged five were about 50 per cent more likely than the
bottom third to have used drugs such as amphetamines and ecstasy when
aged 30.
The effect was even stronger among women. High-IQ women were more than
twice as likely as low-IQ women to have used cannabis and cocaine in
the past year, for instance.
James White of Cardiff University, who led the study in the Journal of
Epidemiology and Community Health, said that because the effect could
be picked up at the age of five, before schooling, it may be
independent of education.
"The study just looked at whether you had or had not used drugs in the
last year. We don't know the level of usage and we don't know the harm
of low-level drug use," Dr White said.
One possible explanation is that more intelligent people are more
likely to get bored or to suffer at the hands of their peers, either of
which could lead to experimenting with drugs, he suggested. Overall,
high-IQ people are more likely to have healthier lifestyles because
they are better informed about diet and exercise, he added.
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