WASHINGTON - Depression, teens and marijuana are a dangerous mix that can
lead to dependency, mental illness or suicidal thoughts, according to a White
House report being released Friday.
A teen who has been depressed at some point in the past year is more than twice
as likely to have used marijuana as teens who have not reported being depressed
- 25 per cent compared with 12 per cent, said the report by the White House
Office of National Drug Control Policy.
"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."
Smoking marijuana can lead to more serious problems, Walters said in an
interview.
For example, using marijuana increases the risk of developing mental disorders
by 40 per cent, 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 non-users, it said.
The report also cited research that showed that teens who smoke marijuana when
feeling depressed were more than twice as likely as their peers to abuse or
become addicted to pot - eight per cent compared with three per cent.
Experts who have worked with children say there's nothing harmless about
marijuana.
"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 centres 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 Centres for Disease Control and
Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Overall, marijuana use among teens has decreased 25 per cent since 2001, down to
about 2.3 million kids who used pot at least once a month, the drug control
office said.
While the drop is encouraging, Walters appealed to parents to recognize signs of
possible drug use and depression.
"It's not something you look the other way about when your teen starts appearing
careless about their grooming, withdrawing from the family, losing interest in
daily activities," Walters said. "Find out what's wrong."
