Health Highlights: June 12, 2008

Low-birthweight babies (weighing less than 5.5 pounds) are at increased risk of dying in infancy or having long-term disabilities.

The nationwide rise in low-weight births was due to an increase in multiple births as more older women use fertility treatments to conceive, said Laura Beavers, coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation, theAPreported.

The Kids Count report examined 10 categories of children's health and well-being, finding that New Hampshire, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Utah ranked highest overall, while Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama and South Carolina ranked lowest.

There were nationwide improvements in the child death rate, teen death rate, teen birth rate, high school dropout rate, and teens not in school and not working. Four areas worsened: low-birthweight babies, children living in poverty, children in single-parent families, and children living with unemployed parents.

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Marijuana Potency Increasing

In 2007, marijuana potency reached its highest level in more than 30 years, according to a new report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Researchers at the University of Mississippi's Potency Monitoring Project analyzed levels of THC (the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007, theAssociated Pressreported.

The average amount of THC in the samples was 8.75 percent in 2006 and 9.6 percent in 2007, compared to just under 4 percent in 1983. These increasing levels of THC pose greater psychological, cognitive and respiratory risks to people who use marijuana, according to John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Sophisticated growing techniques used by marijuana producers in the United States and Canada are behind the increased potency of the drug, according to the White House office.

While federal officials expressed concern over the increased potency of marijuana, one expert said marijuana users generally adjust to the level of potency and smoke it accordingly, theAPreported.

"Stronger cannabis leads to less inhaled smoke," said Dr. Mitch Earleywine, who teaches psychology at the State University of New York in Albany and serves as an adviser for marijuana advocacy groups.