A new study has found that teenagers who have used herbal products are more likely to have used serious drugs. That St. John's wort could lead to cocaine use is somewhat surprising, but teenage experimentation has never been known to be overly discriminating.

The study, published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, reports that teens who have experimented with herbal remedies are six times more likely to have tried cocaine and 15 more likely to have used anabolic steroids. The thinking is that kids who are open to trying herbal medicine are also more open to experimenting with illicit drugs.

Teens who have used herbal products are:

• 4.4 times more likely to have ever used inhalants
• 4.4 times more likely to have ever used LSD, PCP, ecstasy, mushrooms, and other illegal drugs
• 5.9 times more likely to have ever used cocaine
• 6.8 times more likely to have ever used methamphetamines
• 8.1 times more likely to have ever used IV drugs
• 8.8 times more likely to have ever used heroin
• 14.5 times more likely to have ever used steroids

than teens who have never used herbal products.

This does not mean that that average teen who sprinkles lavender essential oil on her pillow is also using heroin. The study's author, Susan Yussman, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Rochester Medical Center, said that experts have not yet determined which herbal products may be associated with use of which specific drugs.

"A teen using a sports-enhancing product probably has a very different substance use pattern than a teen taking Echinacea for a cold," she said.

[via EurekAlert]

Image: nature.com