Marijuana use among adolescents is linked to later depression and suicide attempts

(HealthDay) – A new review suggests that the pot can be particularly dangerous for the teenage brain.

Those who smoked marijuana were not only more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts, but were also more than three times more likely to attempt suicide between 18 and 32 years of age.

What is not clear in the exam is why. Does marijuana (cannabis) affect adolescent brain development in any way? Or were adolescents diagnosed with depression or attempted suicide using the drug to self-treat?

In any case, adolescents and pre-teens "should avoid cannabis because their use is badociated with a significantly increased risk of developing depression or suicidality in young adults," Canadian researchers wrote. .

In the United States, the use of pots increases exponentially, noted the study's authors. Between 2001/02 and 2012/13, the number of people aged 18 to 29 who used marijuana in the past year has increased from almost 11% to over 21%.

According to background information in the report, about 7% of seniors in US high schools reported smoking pot every day.

In the Canadian journal, researchers led by Dr. Gabriella Gobbi of McGill University in Montreal examined 269 studies to determine whether there was a link between adolescent marijuana use and depression, Anxiety, suicidal thoughts or suicide attempts. The researchers eventually included 11 of these studies in their final badysis.

There was no statistically significant relationship between anxiety in young adults and marijuana use in adolescence. However, the chances of developing depression among young adults were 37% higher among those who used marijuana in their teens compared to those who did not use marijuana, according to the results.

The chances of a young adult thinking about suicide were 50% higher among those who smoked marijuana. Investigators found that the chances of suicide attempts were nearly 3.5 times higher among cannabis smokers than among those who did not use marijuana.

The results were published online on February 13 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Dr. Harshal Kirane, an addiction psychiatrist at Staten Island University Hospital in Northwell Health, New York, reviewed the results. He said that as the country continues to seek to increase access to marijuana, it is important to be able to identify the parts of the population most vulnerable to its effects.

"Individuals have different predispositions regarding their vulnerability to marijuana exposure.Many, maybe even most teens who experiment with marijuana may not have problems." there is still an important subgroup that has them, and these are the ones we need to understand, "he explained.

Kirane said the magazine could not unravel a cause-and-effect relationship, but added that marijuana could have an impact on brain development. He added that several studies on rodents have shown that exposure to marijuana can disrupt the maturity of certain brain processes.

This review suggests that "Marijuana exposure in adolescents potentially presents a risk of mood and suicidal behavior in young adults," Kirane said. "From a political point of view, these are the ones we need to make an effort to protect."

Paul Armentano, deputy director of NORML, an advocacy organization for the legalization of marijuana, agreed that it was important to discourage the use of marijuana by teens and to use political measures of marijuana. common sense to restrict teenagers' access to marijuana.

But, adds Armentano, it is impossible to know from this review the role that adolescent marijuana has played in depression, as well as thoughts and suicidal attempts among young adults. He added that it is possible that people more likely to use marijuana in adolescence share the same traits or behaviors with depressed or suicidal people.

"It is also possible that people with such symptoms often turn to cannabis early in their lives as a potential self-medication," suggested Armentano.

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