Women are acutely more sensitive to the deleterious impact of clubbing nightlife and substance abuse, according to preliminary studies.

Prof. Giuseppe Di Giovanni, from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Malta, says the results may serve as an educational tool to raise young people’s awareness of the risk of Paceville’s nightlife.

The Paceville research project, the Long-term Effects of Chronic Tobacco Use and Bingeing on Alcohol and Marijuana in Adolescence – a Gender Study, is the first to address the long-lasting and negative impact of the abuse of these three substances together during the teenage years on mood, learning and memory in adults, with a focus on gender differences.

It is likely that this combination is the most dangerous in terms of long-term brain damage, especially in women

Binge drinking is a well-known and common trend among adolescents in developed countries, including Malta. However, a good number of young people tend to abuse not only alcohol [reaching the state of acute intoxication], but also marijuana, at the weekend. And it is also probable that they even smoke cigarettes daily.

Local studies show that although alcohol and soft drug consumption is lower when compared to Northern European countries, occasional binge drinking with the consumption of soft drugs is on the increase in Malta.

While there is some evidence that the single heavy abuse of alcohol, or cannabis, even if limited to the adolescent period, can cause irreversible deficits in higher brain function that persist in adults, surprisingly, no studies have yet considered the deleterious effect of the combined abuse of alcohol, marijuana and tobacco. And it is likely that this combination is the most dangerous in terms of long-term brain damage, especially in women.

Indeed, although literature indicates that women tend to be more vulnerable to the negative effects of alcohol use than men, gender differences are not clear regarding the risk of alcohol, nicotine and marijuana use across developmental periods, as well as the effects of adolescent alcohol, nicotine and marijuana abuse on adult life.

Although males are at a higher risk of being early-onset alcohol users, females have been found to be at a higher risk of using marijuana at younger ages. It has also been found that the association between quantity/frequency of alcohol and marijuana use with drinking problems is stronger among females than males, while recent data show that females tend to be involved in higher levels of marijuana use than males in early adolescence.

This implies that female drinkers, who also use marijuana, may be at particularly high risk for developing drinking problems, meaning more effort may need to be put into early intervention for marijuana use among girls. In fact, understanding these gender differences should help better design prevention and intervention programmes, tailored to the specific timing and needs of each gender group.

The study expects to clarify the possibility of a gender predisposition [females vs males] in adolescence to addiction and the risks associated with multi-drug exposure during this time, particularly the differences between genders.

The results may confirm that the adolescent brain is highly sensitive to the administration of alcohol and/or marijuana and that the effects of these drugs are manifested in adulthood. They may serve as an educational tool to raise young people’s awareness of the risk of Paceville’s nightlife.

This story appeared in last week's edition of Pink magazine