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Study Shows Pot and Depression a Dangerous Combo

Posted on: Friday, 9 May 2008, 12:00 CDT

Millions of teens in America are reported using marijuana to “self-medicate” their symptoms of depression, which actually can worsen such symptoms, according to a recent report from the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The report noted that recent studies show that marijuana and depression can be a dangerous combination that can lead to serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia, anxiety and even suicide.

Additionally, depressed teens are more than twice as likely as their peers to abuse or become dependent on marijuana, the study said.

Two million teens (8 percent) reported signs of depression and loss of interest in daily activities last year. That percentage increased to 29 percent in high school students.

The percentage of depressed teens is equal to the percentage of depressed adults, but depressed teens are more likely than depressed adults to use marijuana and other drugs.

What researchers found most alarming was that the majority of teens who report feeling depressed aren’t getting professional help. They have not seen or spoken to a medical doctor or other professional about their feelings.

This leads to experimentation in self-medication.

“For parents, this means they need to pay closer attention to their teen’s behavior and mood swings, and recognize that marijuana and other drugs could be playing a dangerous role in their child’s life,” researchers write.

“Marijuana is a more consequential substance of abuse than our culture has treated it in the last 20 years," said John Walters, director of the office.

"This is not just youthful experimentation that they'll get over as we used to think in the past."

Using marijuana increases the risk of developing mental disorders by 40 percent, the report said. And teens who smoke pot at least once a month over a yearlong period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than nonusers, it said.

"I've seen many, many kids' lives negatively impacted and taken off track because of marijuana," said Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, director of adolescent services for Phoenix House treatment centers in California.

"It's somewhat Russian roulette. There are so many factors, emotional, psychological, biological. You can't predict the experimentation and how it will impact a kid."

The drug control policy office analyzed about a dozen studies looking at marijuana use, including research by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Marijuana use among teens has decreased 25 percent since 2001, down to about 2.3 million kids who used pot at least once a month, the drug control office said.

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On the Net:

Office of National Drug Control Policy

Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports

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