HOSPITAL RESEARCH LINKS CANNABIS WITH DEPRESSION

Research on cannabis use conducted by a Melbourne hospital produced
strong evidence that heavy marijuana users are more prone to
depression and mental problems.

The research by the Royal Children's Hospital tracked a group of 2,000
youths for seven years between the ages of 14 and 21, a report in
today's The Age newspaper said.

The director of the hospital's Centre for Adolescent Health, George
Patton, said the results of the research were very striking.

"The effects are profound, particularly in young women, where the
rates of mental health problems have increased many, many times in
daily cannabis users," he told The Age.

However, details are being withheld until the full study was published
in an international medical journal next month.

Professor Patton said the study was the best evidence yet that
cannabis was a health risk and led to mental illness and depression.

It has not so far been proven that cannabis use causes
depression.

Rather, it was thought that depressed people might have turned to it
for relief or that some personality types could be prone to both
cannabis dependence and depression.

"There's been a bit of a question in people's minds as to what was the
chicken and the egg here," Prof Patton said.

"What we've been trying to do is disentangle some of that in our
work."

He said occasional or experimental use probably had no effect on
mental health at all.