A 10-year study finds that youths who were heavy marijuana users in their teens were more likely than drinkers to have a host of problems later in life, including mental illness, relationship problems, and trouble getting a job.

The Independent reported April 22 that researchers followed 1,900 youths from age 15 to 25 and found that heavy marijuana users were three to six times more likely to use other drugs than those who drank alcohol, and three times more likely to be unemployed or drop out of school.

"Cannabis really does look like the drug of choice for life's future losers," said lead researcher George Patton of the Melbourne University Center for Adolescent Health.

The study was published in the April 2007 issue of the journal Addiction.