It is a well known fact that drug abuse is most common in early adolescence. The most popular substances among youth are cannabis products (made from Cannabis sativa L., Cannabaceae). The majority of heroin and cocaine addicts have started with marijuana. The aim of this study is to show some psycho-social characteristics of adolescents who abuse cannabis. Research conducted during the year 2001 was epidemiological and prospective. The study group included 600 adolescents of equal gender and age distribution. Q 2000 questionnaire was used, as a comprehensive tool for all aspects of adolescent life. The results show strong peer impact on one's behavior. Youth who use cannabis had 2-3 friends of the same behavior, compared to others who had none. We found positive correlation between life stressful events and cannabis abuse. We also noticed tendency to delinquent behavior related to cannabis abuse (35%).

CFTR protein (cystic fibrosis trans membrane conductance regulator) is expressed in multiple epithelial tissues, including upper and lower respiratory tracts, pancreas, sweat glands and gastrointestinal tract. More than 800 mutations and 100 polymorphic variants of DNA sequences were identified in patients with CF (Cystic fibrosis) and CFTR-diseases. In this study, genetic CFTR analysis of the children suffering from chronic lung disease (cystic fibrosis) is presented. They are treated and regularly controlled at the Pediatric hospital Sarajevo. CFTR analysis was done in 9 cases, 4 boys (44.4%) and 5 girls (55.55%). There are 3 children (33.3%) in the age group 1 to 3 years, 1 child (11.1%) in the age group 3 to 6 years, 3 children (33.3%) in the age group 6 to 9 years and 2 children (22.2%) in the age group 9 to 12 years. Genetic analysis was conducted at the Medical center for molecular biology, School of Medicine, Ljubljana. PCR method with PAGE and direct sequestration on ABI PRISM 31 was applied. The majority of children (7 children, i.e. 77.77%) had CFTR mutation Delta F 508 whilst one child had G542X mutation and one child R 1174 mutation. The purpose of this study is to emphasize the need for CFTR gene identification in the institutes of our country.

Classical works dealing with the possibility of mother-child incompatibility with regard to basic ABO blood groups give contradictory conclusions. Bioreproductive and population-genetic indicators have been studied in a sample of live births and in two pregnancy samples with different "a priori" and "a posteriori" risk assessment. The analysis points out that ABO blood groups can influence fertility of different parental pairs, and consequently--assessment of the individual pregnancy risk.

Birth order and its effect on growth and development of children and youths have rarely been studied so far. The objective of this research was an analysis of the birth order effects on some anthropometric properties of the boys 11-16 years old. The sample consisted of 748 boys from the Tuzla region. As the sample included very few boys born as the third, forth, or fifth child, we decided to consider only the differences in the mean values for some anthropometric parameters between the groups of the first- and the second-born. Measurements were taken according to IBP and the following parameters were investigated: body height, body mass, chest circumference, upper arm circumference, upper leg circumference, sitting height, arm length, leg length, pelvis width, shoulders width, length and width of head. We established that in most generations the firstborn boys have larger mean values for most anthropometric variables in comparison to the second-born.