Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Later Illness

njqt466

Teen Marijuana Use Linked to Later Illness
Self-Medication, Especially for Depression, Raises Risk of Mental Problems, Study Says

By Lori Aratani-Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 9, 2008; B04


Teenagers who smoke marijuana put themselves at risk for future mental illness and higher rates of depression, according to a report to be released today by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Although fewer teens overall are smoking marijuana, the report said, there is growing concern that those who do, particularly those who view the drug as a way to cope with depression, do not understand its consequences. It also is not clear whether their parents, who might have indulged when they were younger, understand the risks, experts say.

The report, whose release coincides with the start of Mental Health Awareness Month, said studies show links between marijuana use and risk of mental illness later in life, and that use could increase the risk by as much as 40 percent.

Teenage girls who smoke marijuana are particularly at risk, the report said. It found that teen girls who smoke marijuana daily are more likely to develop depression than those who do not.

The report also found that teenagers who smoke marijuana at least once a month are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non-users. It said that even though the percentage of teens who are depressed is equal to the percentage of adults who say they are depressed, teenagers are more likely to seek solace in marijuana or other illicit drugs.

"Significant numbers of teenagers are self-medicating,'' said John P. Walters, director of the White House office. "They're turning to marijuana to reduce [symptoms of depression], and [the depression] is getting worse."

The report said that too often teens do not seek treatment for their depression, choosing instead to seek relief by smoking marijuana. They do not realize that pot can make their problems worse and can set them up for serious health consequences, it said.

Susan Lydick, coordinator of the Youth Suicide and Depression Initiative at the Fairfax Partnership for Youth, said the report offers new information to parents and the general public -- groups that are often unaware of the interplay between drug use and depression.

Walters said advances in technology allow researchers to better understand the effect drugs such as marijuana have on brain function. The research being done today "is breaking new ground in showing the role marijuana use is playing in depression," he said.

Added Larry Greenhill, president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry: "What's new in this report is that it documents how serious the impact is of what was thought to be a mild recreational" drug.

Lydick said that in addition to teenage girls, minority youths are likely to seek relief for depression through drugs or other substances partly because of the social stigma some cultures attach to mental health problems.

"They don't want to go to mom, they don't want to go to their pastor, so the safer thing to do is to self-medicate with marijuana and other drugs,'' Lydick said.

She said the report's conclusions mirror many of the findings of a 2005 survey of Fairfax County youth. According to that study, Hispanic, Asian and African American teens reported higher percentages of depression than their white counterparts. Lydick said her agency is hosting a community forum next week to explore teen depression and addiction. Nationwide, about 2 million teenagers report having felt depressed or having lost interest in daily activities during the past year.

Beth Kane-Davidson, director of Suburban Hospital's Addiction Treatment Center in Bethesda, which serves teens and adults, said the report offers important information for people in her field.

It "opens the door for parents and teens to start thinking about their own decisions and the possible impact of their decisions on their future,'' she said. Too often, Kane-Davidson said, parents and teenagers downplay marijuana's impact because they see it as less harmful than other drugs, such as cocaine.

Contributing to the risk is the higher potency of marijuana being distributed today compared with what was available in the 1970s, when federal officials began analyzing the drug. A study done last year by researchers at the University of Mississippi found that, since the 1980s, the potency has doubled.

Walters said that despite a drop in usage among teenagers, those who are using are becoming more dependent on it. About 60 percent of first-time users are under the age of 18.

"We forget because we think of marijuana as something that's the least dangerous of illicit drugs, but far more teens are in treatment for dependency on marijuana than alcohol," Walters said



So apparently, smoking pot for depression, is like eating gummy bears for a toothache.

osiris0806

i smoke weed regularly and love it... no depression.... but still makes sense... weed is an hallucinogen and can cause paranoia

Charles Finn

I can tell you I have smoked pot for over 25 years it helps mellow me out.

crescendo69

Hurts some; helps others. Like any drugs.

StapledShut

From my own observation, I've noticed that high school psych students (usually the ones who only take the first-level courses, even if repeatedly) are often pot heads. Wanting to try other drugs and knowing the symptoms of depression, they simply go to their psychiatrist, portray the symptoms and get more drugs. With how much the term is thrown around these days, it is the easiest psychological ailment to fake.
I'm not saying that's always the case, but I saw so many people do it when I was in high school, that I'm sure it's skewing the results even if just slightly.

It’s akin to chewing on a rain soaked car tire.

jason_els

I wonder how many are taking it because they are depressed already and going undiagnosed?

"The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt." -Bertrand Russell

Hugh G. Rection

THIS IS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY BOARD.
Currently in the U.S.A, there is a war going on between the people and the White House as to whether or not pot should be legalized, and in some states the people are winning.
All other studies have shown virtually no harmful side effects compared to alcohol.

If there's one thing you can learn from this site, it's that you have a small penis.

Northland

I would never eat gummy bears for a toothache-everybody knows gummy bears are for tummy aches. (and of course the chocolate ones are for dates gone bad: Turned down for sex cure)
for toothaches you need this: Toothache remedy-rips out tooth in 3 chews!

“Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner voice which says, ‘This is the real me,’ and when you have found that attitude, follow it.” -William James

njqt466

My guess would be about half.

javyn

Yeah so I guess it's better to go to big pharma rather than smoking dope for "self medication". Not like zoloft, paxil, etc cost a ton and make people suicidal or homicidal....on wait they do....see Columbine. See the Virginia Tech Massacre....etc etc etc.

Anyway, the anti-marijuana government propaganda is still beyond laughable to this day.

EDIT:
Actually, pot does do some pretty awful things to you, but, only when smoked in conjunction with alcohol go figure. And also what those studies fail to point out. Pick one or the other and stick with it I guess.

StapledShut

That's because those only treat the apathy and not the morose and self-loathing. While normally you wouldn't give a shit to do something about how much you hate yourself, with the wrong level of anti-depressants, you just might find the motivation to fix that problem.

It’s akin to chewing on a rain soaked car tire.

Nick4444

I'm doomed

Hey! I know what to do with a drunken sailor!

Vancouver Canucks will rule! (maybe next year!)

クジラを救いなさい -- 日本人を銛を打ち込みなさい

解放西藏 !

midlifebear

So, I'm supposed to be at a greater risk of depression and mental illness because of all the weed I smoked as a teen? I'm gonna be 59 years old soon so when is all this mental deterioration going to slap me up the side of the head? Do I have to wait until I start forgetting the car keys more than once a month so they can jump on my forgetfulness as a sign of having smoked too much weed? Hmmmm . . . . then I wonder what all that LSD I took is supposed to do?

So far I'm just a normal, successful business owner who drinks occasionally at social events and has been a serial monogomist since about 1978? Oh, how I cower in fear of the moment when the emotional damn breaks and that emotional resevoir of mental illness and depression drowns me in misery. Maybe I should start talking Valium to soften the unavoidable scientifice blow? For, of course the White House Office of National Drug Control only has everyone's bestest ever interests in mind when spewing out such research.

I understand if I took the right meds I'd see how many wonderful things Bush has accomplished as president of the United States. Anyone got some leftover SSRI's they'd like to send me? . . . one Nation, under Prozac, with the inability to make my own life decisions, at all.

• "If all the girls who attended the Yale prom were laid end to end, I wouldn't be a bit surprised." Dorothy Parker
• "If you haven't anything nice to say, please come sit next to me." Alice Roosevelt Longworth
• "Food is always, more or less, in demand." Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

TBoneSteak

I know Kurt Cobain said that all the pot he smoked in high school made his depression worse.

javyn

Yes bear, no lie has ever come out of the whitehouse!! Especially regarding a substance it cannot control or tax! Why on earth would they lie?!