According to a White House report teens who are depressed and who indulge in marijuana are creating an even more dangerous environment for themselves. When mixed with depression it is suggested that marijuana can cause dependence, mental illness or even suicidal thoughts. The report released by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy states that a teenager who has shown depressive tendencies is two times more likely to have used marijuana than teens that have no history of depression.
“Marijuana is a more consequential substance of abuse than our culture has treated it in the last 20 years,”
Says John Walters, director of the White House office.
“This is not just youthful experimentation that they’ll get over as we used to think in the past.”
Studies have also found that marijuana can lead to a great deal of serious problems including mental disorders. In fact, the risk of developing mental disorders has been said to be increased by 40% when the teen regularly smokes marijuana. The report also showed that teens that turn to pot when feeling depressed are twice as likely (8 percent vs. 3 percent) to become addicted to the substance. A misconception among many teens is that marijuana use is not as harmful as other drugs, but in reality, it can have a drastically negative impact on your emotional, physical, and biological being. The good news is that teens may be starting to realize this. The study reported that marijuana use among teens has decreased 25 percent since 2001, which is an encouraging number. Here’s hoping that through parental monitoring, effective treatment, and the spread of information about the consequences of the drug, that number continues to fall. For more information about drug and alcohol treatment, please visit The Right Step today!
