Reuters (2/13, Kate, Kelland) reports researchers found in a medical literature review that “teenagers who use cannabis have a higher risk of developing depression and suicidal thoughts as young adults and should be made aware of those risks by parents and” physicians. The findings were published online Feb. 13 in JAMA Psychiatry.
The Philadelphia Inquirer (2/13, Pattani) reports researchers “reviewed data from nearly a dozen studies that included more than 23,000 people,” and “found that marijuana use in adolescence is linked with an increased risk of depression, as well as suicidal thoughts and attempts, before age 32.” The article adds that “the researchers concluded that about 400,000 cases of adolescent depression in the U.S. are potentially attributable to marijuana.”
Healio (2/13, Demko) reports Gabriella Gobbi, MD, PhD, of McGill University’s department of psychiatry, one of the study’s authors, said, “Little attention has been specifically paid in the public health discourse as to the impact of adolescent cannabis use on the risk of developing depressive symptoms and mood disorders, even though researchers have published on this topic since the 1970s. The adolescent brain is indeed still under development and psychotropic drugs used at this time may thus alter the physiological neurodevelopment, especially of the frontal cortex and limbic system.”
Also covering the study are HealthDay (2/13, Gordon), Newsweek (2/13, Gander), U.S. News & World Report (2/13, Lardieri), BBC News Online (UK) (2/13), The Guardian (UK) (2/13, Davis), and the Telegraph (UK) (2/13, Donnelly).
Related Links:
— “Teen cannabis use linked to higher risk of adolescent depression, “Kate, Kelland, Reuters, February 13, 2019