Report: Depression, Teens, Pot Unsafe Mix

[EuPhOrIa89]

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 percent compared with 12 percent, 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 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. 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. 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 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. Overall, 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. 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."

http://www.knbc.com/health/16208565/detail.html

[TMM]

Breaking news: depressed people more likely to seek solace!

The slew of statistics following that particular bombshell almost gave me an aneurysm.

[Nature Boy]

The wording of the report is laughable. How many teens have been depressed in the last five minutes let alone the last year? That kind of report is utter bollocks based on no scientific criteria and it uses deceptive language. Sickening.

[AddyCrazy]

SWIM'd say atleast its marijuana and not dope or coke. Maybe the parents and such should be catching this depression and help treat it before it gets to the point where they are self medicating and become dependent. Oh Yeah everything's drugs fault

[ihavequestions]

"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."

SWIM says that this info is VERY easily misconstrued. think about it. if a teen is depressed after smoking marijuna chances are the whole reason he started to smoke was to self medicate and didnt get help until AFTER they figured out the pot didnt wotk for them. of course a teen who is depressed is twice as likely to use drugs if they have been depressed. thats why some people use drugs! but actualy blame the drug for depression when clearly alot of mentaly ill drug users use the drug to self medicate. swim thinks that alot of articles are twisting information. they are playing the chicken or the egg. mental illness or the drug. only they are biased in what they think came first

[Paracelsus]

The ONDCP has long ago made this claim, worded as "marijuana doubles your risk of depression."

[Politicalchalk]

SWIM firmly believes that it was nothing more than a mere extension, propaganda for the thesis that marijuana is a "gateway" drug. It seems that the gateway theory of drug abuse has been accepted by society.

Incidentally, SWIM also feels that for man, ie: homo sapiens as a species, cannabinoids are quite a naturally occourence. In fact, there is a thesis out there (perhaps on alt.drugs, remember that?) which states that, by virtue of the existence of a receptor for a specific molecule (ie: THC), organic no less, that the plants which stimulate cannabinoid receptors must have co-evolved with humans. SWIM finds this to be a reasonable statement.


"I'll smoke pot every day for the rest of my life. Hell, I think it's good for ya!" This is what SWIM's friend has said on the issue. As far as depression is concerned, it is by no means a cure in the sense that benzodiazepines aren't a cure for anxiety. Used responsibly, these special substances provide a unique and effective treatment for some of these states of being; an opportunity where the ends vastly justify the means.

In a more literal sense: what does marijuana do? Induces a state often demonstrated by hilarity, laughter, happiness (at least for the active duration of the chemical stimulation), euphoria, increased sense, and in general enjoyment. What do depressed people not have enough of? Hilarity (which, by the way, is considered the best medicine some), euphoria...

I hesitate to say "chemically stimulated" above as I'm trying to say that in a more general sense, altered states of consciousness ain't so altered!

NB: Please keep in your thoughts, chanting, and prayer the multiple tragedies in Myanmar (Burma), the militaristic seize of Beruit, the human rights abuses in Tibet, the un-necessary war in Iraq, and the sorry state of suffering the whole planet seems to be occupied by these days. We've really got to get it together. Now. Or else.

[EuPhOrIa89]

[top]White House drug czar links marijuana use and depression

[COLOR=#333333 ! important]The Office National Drug Control Policy says smoking pot increases risk of mental disorders, but critics contend that the report stretches the evidence.[/color]
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...,6245637.story

WASHINGTON -- The White House drug czar said in a warning to parents Friday that depressed teens are medicating themselves with marijuana, running risks of even deeper depression.

A new report by the Office of National Drug Control Policy said that frequent marijuana ingestion doubles a teen's risk of depression and anxiety, based on data compiled from published studies.

The report, timed to be released during Mental Health Awareness Month, cited a study that marijuana use increases the risk of developing mental disorders later in life by 40%.

"In short, marijuana makes a bad situation worse," said John P. Walters, director of the drug control policy office.

Critics said the administration was trying to scare teenagers by exaggerating the dangers.

"When you start convincing young people and their parents that marijuana is the cause of problems rather than the symptom of them, you can get into real problems," said Bruce Mirken, spokesman for the Washington-based Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates decriminalization of the drug. "It may cause people, parents, teens and counselors to overlook the real cause of the problem."

Some addiction experts said the report stretches evidence by implying a causal link between smoking pot and developing mental illness that does not exist, even if there is consensus that depression is a risk factor for drug use.

A British government advisory group concluded in a report last month that there was not convincing evidence to show "a causal relationship between the use of cannabis and the development of any affective disorder."

Questioned about the drug control policy report's claim that "using marijuana can cause depression and other mental illnesses," Walters demurred and acknowledged there is no proof one leads to another.

"Marijuana makes things worse, not only for young people in general, but it particularly makes things worse with regard to mental health and depression," he said.

Among experts inside and outside the government, opinions are mixed on the relationship between teen depression and marijuana use.

"Both conditions could be related to something else," Dr. Victor Reus, a psychiatrist at UC San Francisco, said in an interview. "Depressed teens are more likely to exercise less, stay indoors and watch TV. Take your pick as to which one is causal."

Dr. Nora D. Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, said many youths who smoke cannabis never become depressed.

She said evidence indicates genetic factors make some teens more vulnerable to mental disorders so that marijuana can trigger their onset.

Dr. Drew Pinsky, the medical director for the chemical dependency services department at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena, said he has never seen a chronic user who was not depressed. Also the host of the VH1 show "Celebrity Rehab," he said the first six months of trying to quit the drug often bring suicidal thoughts.

Walters advised parents to watch their children for any sign of depression and to act quickly, instead of dismissing mood swings as a passing phase.

[x cynic x]

Originally Posted by Paracelsus

The ONDCP has long ago made this claim, worded as "marijuana doubles your risk of depression."

Doesn't it also stunt your growth, make you impotent, and make you a hundred times more likely to do stupid things? My Aunt Jemima has known millions of marijuana users but has never met one who suffered from any of the "terrible" effects that anti-drug advertisements tell of.

[zera]

Originally Posted by x cynic x

Doesn't it also stunt your growth, make you impotent, and make you a hundred times more likely to do stupid things? My Aunt Jemima has known millions of marijuana users but has never met one who suffered from any of the "terrible" effects that anti-drug advertisements tell of.

Your pants will also be crusted in semen from constantly jacking off when you can't find a rape victim.

[zera]

Originally Posted by EuPhOrIa89

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

I've seen 12 year olds with a better understanding of the difference between correlation and causation. I'm sure you could tabulate similar statistics for pretty much any other type of rebellious behavior. What's next, outlawing rap music, Hot Topic and green hair dye?

The only increased risk of depression that marijuana use is going to actually cause is when you realize how fucking stupid, dishonest, and inhumane the politicians running your country actually are.

[Tick]

How can they make claims regarding health and impact and follow it with a quote that ends : "You can't predict the experimentation and how it will impact a kid."

???

[Lethargy]

While truly he had not begun use of cannabis until the late (18) teens, a good friend of ours uses cannabis successfully to treat his depression!

Prozac turned him into a robot (no emotion, not depressed but not happy), cannabis opened him up, allowed him to make friends, gave him a comfortable social group to practice his atrophied (due to teenage depression) social skills with (whilst smoking cannabis and making jokes, talking about profound absurdities, etc) and at some biological level seemed to flip some neurological switch to prevent his total loss of interest in life.

As the others have said, this report means nothing. We should produce a similar report, showing the effects of mixing antidepressants and teens on depression. We'd have much higher numbers than those correlating cannabis and depression!

Depression, Teens, Antidepressants Unsafe Mix!

[Politicalchalk]

Our own report? Stellar thinking, friend! That's the way to respond, using their own channels against them. Although the American public is largely afraid of drug use. The following is a bit outdated, but Swim thinks relevant.

Once upon a time, in the golden age of flower power, there was a great leader named Abbie Hoffmann (Not to be confused with Dr. Albert Hoffmann, inventor of LSD). Abbie led a group of political rebels called the Yippies; they sought to drop psychedelic bombs on the pentagon, and eventually raise it in the air by means of their collective psychic powers. A few days before, Abbie held a press conference to announce that, as a weapon, the Yippies (realizing that the sexual revolution was in full swing) had synthesized a LOVE drug from Mace, which was called Lace. Lace was an instant aphrodisiac than made your hormones go into over drive, rendering the user helpless to it's effects .... ripping off your clothes and having sex right there, no matter the surroundings! They were to put it in squirt guns and spray it on the National Guard. And America believed it! They had orders to remove anyone having sex immediately.

Of course, no one brought squirt guns....but it did show that pot and other psychedelics had the power to rally people, in favor of political change that was in the spirit of helping humanity. All humanity.

Swim has experience in releasing studies to the press, general press events, and how to word specific aspects to really drive the point it. It should also be noted that the drug czar was recently hammered in the media for not really doing anything.

Can we release press statements as a community?? If so, it would mean much more traffic on the forum, not to mention essentially pointing the authorities directly at us. Erowid has gone under significant attack in the US press, yet they still post links to synthesizing 2-CB from Anise oil.

To the moderator: your thoughts? Swim will assist any way he can.

[izzy31]

Originally Posted by Lethargy

While truly he had not begun use of cannabis until the late (18) teens, a good friend of ours uses cannabis successfully to treat his depression!

Prozac turned him into a robot (no emotion, not depressed but not happy), cannabis opened him up, allowed him to make friends, gave him a comfortable social group to practice his atrophied (due to teenage depression) social skills with (whilst smoking cannabis and making jokes, talking about profound absurdities, etc) and at some biological level seemed to flip some neurological switch to prevent his total loss of interest in life.

As the others have said, this report means nothing. We should produce a similar report, showing the effects of mixing antidepressants and teens on depression. We'd have much higher numbers than those correlating cannabis and depression!

Depression, Teens, Antidepressants Unsafe Mix!

SWIM knows EXACTLY what you mean. SWIM was treated for depression since he was 14 with risperdal, zoloft, effexor, and lexapro- and guess what!!!

THEY ONLY MADE SHIT WORSE!!! He was expelled from 2 different schools, and at 15, he dropped out to sit around and snort crystal meth all day!!!!! SWIM didnt even get into marijuana until about a year ago

[Panthers007]

That won't be so bad. After all - he will grow large, hairy breasts. So he can at least "cop a feel" during his practice of onanism.

[Heretic.Ape.]

Buffalogreen:
Feel free to write up something and post it in the members forum for review by fellow members and admin/mods. I'm not aware of any previous press statements from the community and cannot personally comment on the possibility as it would be Alfa's bailiwick. But, as I said, never hurts to start a thread on the matter.