Feds: Teen use of pot can lead to dependency, mental illness

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

Isn't it true that depressed individuals tend to resort to use of drugs in general in a desperate effort to relieve their symptoms? Except whereas cannabis is illegal, Prozac isn't.

There's a big difference between use and abuse.

Where's the equivalent report for alcohol? Why is that still legal?

in other news, watching the president speak, congress in session or fox noise has the same effect.

Is this a picture of Hillary Clinton being carried by her supporters?

I feel like this is stupid. Is that unfair? 40% more likely to develop a mental disorder? That sounds completely wrong. I wonder how they conducted their study...

Hm I looked for this article quickly before seeding it, but I will copy over my thoughts to here.

To me it seems like a whole lot of spin.

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 percent compared with 12 percent, said the report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Okay not surprising, as cannabis has been shown to help against depression. Self-medication is very possible.

For example, 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.

Once again self-medication comes into play. The scientific community acknowledges some sort of link between certain mental illnesses and cannabis use; however, it is up in the air as to what that link is. Some believe that the cannabis is causing the illness. Others believe that those who use cannabis for extended times in their life are simply self-medicating a problem that naturally was more prone to becoming an issue.

As to the suicide, schizophrenics are much more likely to commit suicide than the average person and schizophrenia is one of the major mental illnesses linked with cannabis.

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 — 8 percent compared with 3 percent.

Until they discover a problem with smoking pot regularly for a lifetime I can't see why this sentence should be written in such a negative light.

"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."

"Be worried if your teen acts like... a teen!"

Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, called the study "an absolutely dishonest report, deliberately confusing correlation with causation."

Bingo.

For example, 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.

100% hype and BS from the pharmaceutical propaganda (gov) machine.

I am a regular marijuana user, and I have been depressed, for some time now. I'm not sure if the cannabis is to blame or if its situational. While I don't trust anything the government has to say about pot, this story has chords of truth that ring through to me, all of those are based on personal experience. I might start experimenting in non-use to see if symptoms change.

Even worse, a prior study indicated a positive link between teen marijuana use and Autism in their offspring.