Report Warns on Serious Mental Problems in Teens Using Pot

Now, according to a new White House Office of National Drug Control Policy report, teens using marijuana put themselves at higher risk for serious mental problems including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide.

The report, called Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows “Self-Medicating” Could Actually Make Things Worse, sustains that teens using marijuana increase their risk of developing a mental disorder by 40 percent. Teens who use marijuana at least once a month over a yearlong period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who don’t use the drug.

However, the most consistent finding of the report was that using marijuana to alleviate the symptoms of depression puts teenagers at a high risk of becoming addicted to pot and increases their chances to develop mental health problems, such as an advanced form of depression, anxiety, as well as suicide.

Nearly 2 million teens felt depressed over the past year, data showed and depressed teens were more than twice as likely as others to have used marijuana during that period.