ALMOST one in five young marijuana users say the Body Shop's hemp promotion influenced someone they know to experiment with the drug, according to a survey.
The survey, released by Caritas Youth and Community Service in Aberdeen yesterday, was based on interviews with 108 marijuana users aged between 13 and 31 in December and January.
The people questioned were either Caritas clients or had contact with its social services.
Forty-three per cent thought commercial hemp products raised people's awareness of the drug and influenced them to try it.
Almost 44 per cent said the products lowered their psychological resistance to experimenting, while 48 per cent said they led people to believe the drug had no adverse health effects.
'The controversy over hemp products erupted shortly before we started [the survey] so we decided to include these questions,' said Caritas social worker Fung Hing-kau.
In questions relating to commercial hemp products, 20 people, or 18.7 per cent, said they knew someone who started using marijuana as a direct result of the promotion of commercial hemp products.
