CHECKUP EARLY USE OF MARIJUANA LEADS TO COCAINE, ALCOHOL.

Byline: - Mariko Thompson

Children under the age of 15 who experimented with marijuana were more likely to use cocaine as adults. They also were more likely to become addicted to drugs or alcohol, according to a federal report released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The report, ``Initiations of Marijuana Use: Trends, Patterns and Implications,'' is based on the 1999 and 2000 National Household Surveys on Drug Abuse. Among adults age 26 and older who first tried marijuana before they were 15 years old, 62 percent later tried cocaine. More than 9 percent later tried heroin.

Teens and young adults who reported drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes were more likely to try marijuana. Those between the ages of 12 and 25 who smoked cigarettes were six times more likely to try marijuana within one year compared to nonsmokers. Those who drank alcohol were seven to nine times more likely to try marijuana compared to nondrinkers.

NEW CANCER STUDY: The UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center has launched the largest prevention study in the United States for bladder cancer in current and former smokers. The comprehensive research program, a five-year effort, was funded by a $5.9 million grant from the National Cancer Institute.

The program will develop biomarker tests to help predict who gets bladder cancer, examine the molecular profile of the disease, and conduct a clinical trial to test a green tea extract and the experimental drug Iressa as prevention agents. The program will also set up a tumor bank to aid in scientific research.

Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and the eighth most common in women. Cigarette smoking is the most significant, preventable cause of bladder cancer, according to Dr. Arie Belldegrun, lead investigator for the project.