According to study results, cannabis use in adolescents does not increase the risk of depression or suicide

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According to a study published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, cannabis use in adolescents does not increase the risk of depression or suicidal thoughts.

Several recent research studies have found that there is a link between underage cannabis use, depression, and thoughts of suicide. Conservative politicians and the media have turned these studies to suggest that cannabis use causes depression, but this research is really only correlative in nature. In other words, the studies could only scientifically show that adolescents who used cannabis regularly had higher rates of depression and suicidal ideation.

Since researchers have found only one connection between weeds and depression, it is impossible to conclusively state the exact cause and effect of this connection. It is possible that cannabis use increases the risk of depression in minors, but it is also possible that depressed teenagers seek marijuana as a form of self-medication, or that a third factor could increase the risk of depression and substance use at the same time.

A team of researchers from McGill University in Canada has developed a new study to investigate this chicken and egg problem. The researchers recruited 1,606 teenagers born in Quebec between 1997 and 1998 and tracked them over a period of 5 years. At ages 15, 17, and 20, subjects were asked to report how often they had depression or suicidal thoughts and to track their weekly use of cannabis, alcohol, and other drugs.

“As far as we know, this population-based study is the first to examine the temporal relationship between cannabis use, depression and suicidal ideation simultaneously over five years during adolescence,” the study authors wrote according to NORML.

By the age of 15, only 7 percent of the subjects were using cannabis, but by the age of 20 that rate doubled to 15.6 percent. Using specialized statistical analysis, the researchers discovered that adolescents suffering from depression were actually more likely to start using cannabis at a later date. The study also reports that cannabis alone does not increase the risk of suicidal thoughts, but smoking weed while using other drugs and alcohol increased that risk.

“Our study did not find that cannabis use alone was a risk factor for suicidal thoughts,” lead author Despina Bolanis said in a statement. “Rather, the combination with other drugs, including cannabis, was a risk factor for suicidal thoughts.” The researchers also found that depression is a risk factor for weekly cannabis use, which supports the ‘self-medication’ hypothesis. We highlighted that cannabis has the ability to temporarily relieve negative moods that existed prior to its use. “

Although cannabis can provide temporary relief from depression, Bolanis points out that cannabis use in adolescents can still be problematic “because the underlying mood disorder is still present and requires the attention of a psychologist”.

A 2019 study published in the Addiction Journal also found that people suffering from depression were more likely to use cannabis, supporting the hypothesis that depression can lead to increased cannabis use, not the other way around.

Research into the link between adolescent marijuana use and depression is still in its early stages, and further research is crucial to better understand these interactions.