MARIJUANA STUDY DISPELS DRUG'S LINK TO DEPRESSION

The study's results show marijuana users are less depressed than non-users.

A recent study co-authored by a USC College researcher has discovered
that there is no real link between regular use marijuana and symptoms
of depression, dispelling a widely held assumption regarding the drug's use.

Tom Denson, a USC doctoral candidate in psychology worked with Mitch
Earleywine, an associate professor at the State University of New
York, Albany, in conducting the study and writing the report.

To Denson's surprise, the study found marijuana smokers to be less
depressed than their non-smoking counterparts. The study was reported
in the scientific medical journal "Addictive Behaviors" in June 2005.

Earleywine was previously an associate professor at USC and the
author of "Understanding Marijuana." In addition to the report he
co-authored with Denson, Earleywine has recently conducted and
published three other studies on marijuana.

In running the study, Denson and Earleywine contacted frequent users
of marijuana and a smaller control group of non-users through the
Internet. The test subjects completed Web-based surveys to gauge the
level of marijuana use and researchers gauged depression levels using
a scale developed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies.

Participants were categorized into those who consumed marijuana
daily, once a week or less, or never in their lives. The survey also
grouped subjects into various degrees of symptomatic depression
ranging from none to severe.

Through the Internet, researchers were able to reach even those who
might have been reluctant to be quizzed in person or on the phone.

"We had nearly 4,500 respondents - the largest study of its kind," Denson said.

The findings concluded that those who used marijuana had a less
depressed mood, more positive effect and fewer somatic complaints
than non-users, according to the report.

Overall, recreational and medicinal marijuana users were less
depressed than non-smokers, but in a separate analysis, medicinal
users reported more depressed mood and more somatic complaints than
recreational users.

Denson cited ambiguity in the scientific literature as to whether
marijuana was associated with increased risk of depression as the
initial motivation for conducting the study.

"Numerous studies had found no link (between marijuana use and
depression) while other studies found weak relationships between use
of the drug and depression. We had initially suspected that these
weak relationships may be due to the inclusion of medical users who
may be rightfully depressed about their illness," Denson said.

Denson added that on another level, the researchers wanted to test
whether marijuana users were really afflicted with "amotivational
syndrome," as government-sponsored public service announcements
frequently claim.

"There is a tendency to associate the drug with an 'amotivational
syndrome' in which marijuana users are presumed to be made apathetic
and lazy due to the drug's effects," Denson said. "Our data and other
research do not support that notion."

Denson said college students who smoke marijuana receive comparable
grades to those who abstain.

Although the statistics for USC is unavailable, a study by the
Harvard School of Public Health found that 15.7 percent of American
college students had smoked marijuana in the past month.

The study's findings on marijuana and its effects on depression
contradict statements made recently by government officials.

In a May 3, 2005 release from the White House Office of National Drug
Control Policy, director John Walters wrote, "Marijuana use,
particularly during the teen years, can lead to depression, thoughts
of suicide and schizophrenia."

In response to the statements made by Walters, Rob Kampia, executive
director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C., argued
that "science should be used to inform policy, not manipulated to
scare the public," according to the group's Web site, www.mpp.org.

When asked what the controversial results of the study meant for
college students and current users, Denson's answer was straightforward.

"It's probably not a good idea to start smoking marijuana if you
never have. However, if you do smoke marijuana, even every day, you
are not putting yourself at any additional risk for depression," he said.