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Alcohol and marijuana use poses risks for all youngsters; use by the one in four youth with a chronic medical condition can also interfere with disease management. To investigate this phenomenon, researchers in Boston studied a convenience sample of approximately 400 patients aged 9 to 18 years with type 1 diabetes, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, moderate persistent asthma or cystic fibrosis, or irritable bowel disease (median age, 16; 52% girls; 75% white; 71% with a college-graduate parent). Participants were asked about past-year alcohol and marijuana use, mental health, knowledge of alcohol's interactions with medications and laboratory tests, and intentional and nonintentional medication nonadherence.
Thirty-one percent reported alcohol…