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 About 7 percent of cases of adolescent depression could be averted
if cannabis use was eliminated, according to an analysis of data on
mental illness among young people in the United States, Britain and
Canada who used cannabis in their teens.
"Although the size of the negative effects of cannabis can vary ...
and it is not possible to predict the exact risk for each teenager,
the widespread use of cannabis among the young generations makes it
an important public health issue," said Andrea Cipriani, a professor
of psychiatry at Britain's Oxford University who co-led the work.
Cannabis is the most commonly used recreational drug by teenagers
worldwide. In Canada, more than 20 percent of teens aged 15 to 19
years say they have used it in the past year. In England, for those
aged 11 to 15, about 4 percent say they used cannabis in the last
month.
The researchers said the results suggested that, if cannabis use
were eliminated, there would be an estimated 400,000 fewer cases of
depression in 18 to 34 year olds in the United States, 25,000 fewer
in Canada and about 60,000 fewer in the Britain.
"It's a big public health and mental health problem," Cipriani told
reporters at a briefing in London. "Adolescents should be made aware
of the risk."
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The study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry and co-led by
Cipriani and researchers at McGill University in Canada, was a
systematic analysis pooling the best available evidence.
It included 23,317 people from 11 international studies and looked
at depression, anxiety and having suicidal thoughts in young adults.
Independent specialists asked to comment on the study said its
findings were robust and important.
"Among young adults worldwide, depression is the leading cause of
disability, and suicide is the most common cause of death," said
Joseph Firth, a specialist at Australia's Western Sydney University.
By showing cannabis as a contributing factor to both, he said, the
study showed the importance of seeking ways to reduce teenage
cannabis use.
(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Edmund Blair)
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