|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Young cannabis users at more risk of mental illness
David Derbyshire The Telegraph
Friday 22 Nov 2002 Teenagers who smoke cannabis are risking depression and schizophrenia later in life, three new studies conclude today. Researchers have found that adolescents who use the drug at least once a week are increasing the chances of suffering serious mental illness. Girls are particularly at risk. One study found that smoking the drug each day increases the risks of depression five times; weekly use doubles the risk. The links between cannabis and mental health have been debated for decades. But the new research, published today in the British Medical Journal, highlights the dangers to adolescents. A study of 1,600 students in Australia between 1992 and 1998 found that frequent use of the drug led to depression and anxiety, particularly in girls. Around 60 per cent had used cannabis by the age of 20, and seven per cent said that they were daily users. After taking into account other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that daily use increased the risk of depression fivefold in girls in young adulthood, while weekly use doubled the risk. The research was led by Prof George Patton of the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria. Prof Patton said: "Strategies to reduce frequent use of cannabis might reduce the level of mental disorders in young people." The other two studies looked at the links between cannabis and schizophrenia. One, led by Dr Stanley Zammit, of the University of Wales, Cardiff, found that cannabis increased the risk of schizophrenia by 30 per cent. The study was of 50,000 Swedish conscripts carried out over 27 years. Self-medication with cannabis was an "unlikely explanation" for the link, they found. The third study found that the earlier teenagers start using cannabis, the greater the risk of schizophrenia. Those aged 15 in the study, led by researchers at King's College London, were four times more likely to have schizophrenia aged 26 than teenagers who did not use the drug. One in ten of the people who used cannabis by the age of 15 in the sample developed schizophrenia by the time they were 26, compared with three per cent of later users and non-users, they found. Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "While cannabis may be harmless to many people, there is no way of telling who might be the vulnerable victim for whom its use can turn from a relaxing trip into a lifelong torment."
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!