According to a new study, boys who smoke marijuana are shorter than the boys who don't smoke cannabis. The new study presented at the European Congress of Endocrinology in Dublin revealed that the marijuana smokers could be about four-inches shorter than the boys who never smoked marijuana.

As per scientists from the Pir Mehr Ali Shah Agriculture University Rawalpindi in Pakistan, they analyzed the levels of certain hormones that are involved in growth. The studied had included about 217 boys who were marijuana addicted and 220 boys who never smoked cannabis. The scientists noticed that there were increased levels of puberty-related hormones like luteinising hormone (LH) and testosterone in the boys who used to smoke marijuana.

The scientists also said that in that group of boys, growth hormone levels were decreased. According to the results of the study, the boys, who never smoked marijuana, were about four kilogram heavier than the marijuana smokers. In addition, the non-smoking boys were more than four inch taller than their counterparts by the age of 20, as per the study.

The scientists said that they also analyzed the effects of smoking cannabis on levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. According to them, they came to know that marijuana smokers had higher levels of cortisol than non-smokers. In addition, the marijuana smokers went through puberty earlier than non-smokers, the study suggested.

The scientists said, "Early puberty is associated with younger age of onset of drinking and smoking and early maturers have higher levels of substance abuse because they enter the risk period at an early level of emotional maturity."

Earlier, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) released a report which showed that the highest prevalence of marijuana use is in about 15 to 24 year olds.