Teens who are involved in team sports or exercise a lot are less likely to smoke or use drugs than their more sedentary peers, but they are more likely to drink. According to a recent study from the University of Michigan, only about a quarter of high school athletes smoke tobacco and just 15 to 17 percent use marijuana—significantly less than the 38 percent of teens overall who smoke and the 23 percent who use drugs. Nearly six out of 10 athletes drank alcohol in the past month, compared to the 45 percent of students overall who drank. “Drinking might not be a detrimental to their life, whereas smoking something—it would be much harder to exercise the next day,” said Nadra Lisha, a graduate student at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. (Reuters)
