A new analysis of the US data has suggested that using marijuana could result into not only falling for more use of marijuana but also for other drugs and alcohol.

On the basis of national surveys conducted at a three-year difference, researchers have discovered that adults who said they used pot in the first survey were two to nine times more probable to suffer from a substance abuse issue by the time of the second survey.

Experts said that these risks must be considered not just by patients and doctors, but also by policymakers in the areas where marijuana could be up for legalization for recreational or medical use.

Senior study author Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute in New York City, said that patients who may be thinking of using cannabis must know that by using the same they are roughly doubling their chances of developing a drug use disorder in the coming few years.

He told Reuters Health by email, “Patients who already use cannabis should be aware that increasing their use may further increase their risk of developing a substance use disorder, while reducing or stopping their cannabis use is likely to reduce that risk”.

Olfson along with colleagues evaluated survey responses from a countrywide representative sample of the US adults interviewed in 2001-2002 and then in 2004-2005. They got response from over 34,650 people, nearly evenly split among men and women, having a mean age of roughly 45.

During the first survey, 1,279 participants said they use cannabis. After three years that was associated with a roughly three times higher rate of abusing alcohol in comparison to people who didn’t use cannabis during the first survey. Vulnerability of abusing other drugs or becoming dependent on tobacco was double as high, and the chances of suffering from cannabis abuse disorder was nine times higher by the second survey.