Marihuana and genetic studies in Colombia: the problem in the city and in the country

Colombia is a marihuana country. Cannabis is cultivated as a cash crop on a family basis and on plantations in the interior. Production has increased considerably within the past decade and is now an established export industry. Formerly used mainly by marginal unemployed groups, it has spread to the working class, students, and to the upper class. While marihuana smoking (principal form of use) was formerly rejected as socially undesirable, it is now considered acceptable in many circles. Police statistics indicate high percentages of use by urban high school and university students. The high percentage may be due to sampling errors, but it is apparent that university students are continuing use started in the third to fifth forms of secondary school. Use in rural areas, previously limited by religious factors and the social custom of drinking, has shifted with the easy availability of marihuana and increase in the price of alcohol. Although the majority in the urban as well as rural areas are occasional users, the number of regular high frequency users is increasing in the rural areas, due to low salaries and unemployment. Marihuana is also used, on a limited scale, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and other clinical syndromes. Several of our research findings are reported here. The number of abortions among marihuana users in the rural areas and in the urban low income population is higher than in the control groups, but the low levels of nutrition and other factors must be taken into consideration. The rate of congenital malformations is the same as that of non-marihuana users in control groups of the same social class. Chromosomal studies of regular marihuana users do not show any abnormality. (Author' s abstract)