Teen marijuana smokers with mental disorders are THREE times more likely to get hurt, study warns
- American researchers studied more than 200,000 teenagers with mood disorders
- Ten percent of these were found to be diagnosed with ‘cannabis use disorder’
- This condition is associated with a 3.28 times greater risk of non-fatal self-mutilation
Teens with bipolar disorder or depression who smoke marijuana are at increased risk of death and self-harm, a new study has found.
Adolescent mood disorders have been linked to cannabis abuse and it has been found that addiction has a significant impact on mortality.
Researchers at Ohio State University found that teenagers with mood disorders and marijuana use are 3.28 times more likely to self-harm and 59% more likely to die from all causes.
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Researchers at Ohio State University in the United States found that teenagers with mood disorder and marijuana habit are 3.28 times more likely to get hurt and 59 percent more likely to die from all causes (stock)
The risk of death from unwanted overdose is 2.4 higher than in people who avoid the drug, and the likelihood of being a victim of murder is 3.24 times higher, the study finds.
“The use and addiction of marijuana is common among young people and young adults with mood disorders, but the association of this behavior with self-harm, suicide and risk of general mortality is poorly understood in this already vulnerable population”, says the main author, Dr. Cynthia Fontanella.
“These findings should be considered when states contemplate legalizing medical and recreational marijuana, both associated with increased cannabis use disorder.”
The study, published in JAMA Paediatrics, reviewed anonymous cases of more than 200,000 people aged 10 to 24 years.
Cannabis use was observed in 21,040 of adolescents with mood disorders, one in ten of the study cohort.
The study used professionally grown cannabis plants that were carefully extracted and applied to models, and the researchers say their findings do not mean that smoking marijuana or using CBD oil offers any protection against Covid-19 (stock)
Cannabis abuse was more common in older people, as well as in blacks and men.
During the seven-year observation period, participants were also closely studied to determine the prevalence of non-fatal self-harm, all-cause mortality, suicide, overdoses, car accidents and homicides.
“We also found that cannabis use disorder was significantly associated with self-harm, including death from unintended overdose and homicide,” said Professor Fontanella.
“Unfortunately, although this observational study draws attention to these associations, it is unable to contribute to our understanding of causality or mechanism.”
The researchers say that not only are young people with mood disorders more likely to use cannabis, but the drug can also worsen symptoms and interfere with treatments.
Lowering rates of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder can reduce the risk, ‘said senior author, Professor Mary Fristad.
‘Models of individual and family therapy, including cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational stimulus therapy have been shown to decrease cannabis use in youth.’
Almost two-thirds of people in their 20s have used illegal drugs in their lifetime
Nearly two-thirds of young adults in Britain have used an illegal drug at least once in their lives, new research suggests.
This figure is 22.2 percent higher than the official data from the Crime Survey England and Wales, which informs government policy.
The authors of the new analysis, from Bristol and Public Health England, say that the illegality of illicit drug use means that measuring actual use is difficult and leads to underestimation.
Amphetamine is the least reported drug, with the new study finding that nearly one in three (32.9 percent) of 24-year-olds took the drug illegally.
This is a fourfold increase in the prevalence observed in the Criminal Survey, which records only 8.1%.
Amphetamine was defined as including MDMA, but not ecstasy, which was consumed by one in nine (11.1 percent) people in their 20s.
Cannabis was consumed by 60.5 percent of people, a significant increase from the lowest estimate of 37.3 percent, the study found.
The data also reveals that powdered cocaine was consumed by 30.8 percent of people, as opposed to 13.9 percent reported by the Criminal Survey.
The use of crack and cocaine is the same in both surveys, in only 1% of the population, while hallucinogens increase 11.3%, to 18.1% of people in the Bristol study.
Opioid use was statistically higher and was taken by one in 20 people, while sedatives or tranquilizers were used by 11.6 percent of young adults, an increase of 8.1 percent.
In the photo, the percentage of respondents in the Bristol study that looks at how many people took illicit drugs at some point in their lives