Is High IQ Linked to Drug Use
Researchers at Cardiff University and University College London studied 16,571 babies born in 1970.
The researchers tested the IQ of the children several times as they grew into adults.
They studied what drugs the participants were taking, asking about marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines and LSD.
Oddly enough, children that had high IQs at the age of 10 were associated with much higher rates of excessive alcohol intake and drug use at the age of 30 than were children with lower IQs.
By gender, the study found that men with high childhood IQs-defined as those between 107 and 158-were up to twice as likely to use illegal drugs as those with an average IQ of 100.
Even more surprising, girls with high IQs were up to three times as likely to use drugs as those with average IQs.
One would think that people with higher IQs would naturally make better (or in this case, healthier) decisions than people of lower intelligence.
Why then, are children with high IQs growing into adults with a much greater chance of drug abuse? Researchers are not certain, but they have started to develop several theories.
Are Theories Guesswork Many of the theories are pure guesswork.
One says that children with higher IQs are "more open to new experiences.
" Another theory speculates that kids with high IQs may try using drugs because they are getting bored in class faster than their classmates.
Some students could simply be trying to "cope with being different.
" Again, none of these guesses have any research to back them up, but if any of them have any truth, they are illustrative of an important point-the ability to think intelligently can be of little use if you are ignorant in key areas relating to your health and safety.
Another interesting theory has to do with the communication of anti-drug messages to children and teens-one of the crucial steps in preventing drug abuse in adults.
Some researches feel that simple "Don't do drugs" ads are too clumsy or unsubtle-higher intelligence viewers simply roll their eyes and are unaffected by the message.
Even worse, some ad campaigns have been shown to increase the idea that "lots of other people are doing drugs", with the result that they actually increased drug use.
More evidence, however, lies behind the idea that high-intelligence adolescents aren't just ignorant or being turned off by clumsy anti-drug advertising-they are actually victims of a generalized false idea that recreational illegal drugs are "safe.
" This high-intelligence group has received lots of information to the effect that tobacco is bad for their health, and their incidence of tobacco use is thus much lower than it would be otherwise.
Another idea has circulated, however, that it is impossible to overdose on marijuana.
This may be true, but smoking weed also has the same (or even worse) impact on your lungs as tobacco.
Somehow the possibility of lung disease or other negative health effects of illegal drugs seem to have been lost on the higher-IQ group.
A last theory is that adults with higher IQs often have higher-paying jobs.
It is possible that having more disposable income (along with some of the factors discussed above) is leading some higher-IQ adults to drink more alcohol and use more drugs.
The researchers tested the IQ of the children several times as they grew into adults.
They studied what drugs the participants were taking, asking about marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines and LSD.
Oddly enough, children that had high IQs at the age of 10 were associated with much higher rates of excessive alcohol intake and drug use at the age of 30 than were children with lower IQs.
By gender, the study found that men with high childhood IQs-defined as those between 107 and 158-were up to twice as likely to use illegal drugs as those with an average IQ of 100.
Even more surprising, girls with high IQs were up to three times as likely to use drugs as those with average IQs.
One would think that people with higher IQs would naturally make better (or in this case, healthier) decisions than people of lower intelligence.
Why then, are children with high IQs growing into adults with a much greater chance of drug abuse? Researchers are not certain, but they have started to develop several theories.
Are Theories Guesswork Many of the theories are pure guesswork.
One says that children with higher IQs are "more open to new experiences.
" Another theory speculates that kids with high IQs may try using drugs because they are getting bored in class faster than their classmates.
Some students could simply be trying to "cope with being different.
" Again, none of these guesses have any research to back them up, but if any of them have any truth, they are illustrative of an important point-the ability to think intelligently can be of little use if you are ignorant in key areas relating to your health and safety.
Another interesting theory has to do with the communication of anti-drug messages to children and teens-one of the crucial steps in preventing drug abuse in adults.
Some researches feel that simple "Don't do drugs" ads are too clumsy or unsubtle-higher intelligence viewers simply roll their eyes and are unaffected by the message.
Even worse, some ad campaigns have been shown to increase the idea that "lots of other people are doing drugs", with the result that they actually increased drug use.
More evidence, however, lies behind the idea that high-intelligence adolescents aren't just ignorant or being turned off by clumsy anti-drug advertising-they are actually victims of a generalized false idea that recreational illegal drugs are "safe.
" This high-intelligence group has received lots of information to the effect that tobacco is bad for their health, and their incidence of tobacco use is thus much lower than it would be otherwise.
Another idea has circulated, however, that it is impossible to overdose on marijuana.
This may be true, but smoking weed also has the same (or even worse) impact on your lungs as tobacco.
Somehow the possibility of lung disease or other negative health effects of illegal drugs seem to have been lost on the higher-IQ group.
A last theory is that adults with higher IQs often have higher-paying jobs.
It is possible that having more disposable income (along with some of the factors discussed above) is leading some higher-IQ adults to drink more alcohol and use more drugs.
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