NEW LINK TO MARIJUANA AND DEPRESSION

Researchers believe they have found the strongest evidence yet that heavy
marijuana smoking causes depression, especially in young women.

The results of the research at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne
are expected to be published soon. The hospital's Centre for Adolescent
Health followed 2000 youths for seven years from the ages of 14 to 21 to
gather data.

"The findings are very, very striking," said the centre's director, George
Patton. "The effects are profound, particularly in young women where the
rates of mental health problems have increased many, many times in daily
cannabis users.

"This is the best evidence yet that ... cannabis is bad for your mental
health and does cause higher rates of depression and anxiety problems,"
Professor Patton said.

He was reluctant to give details because the findings had not yet been
published. The study would be submitted to an international journal soon.

Marijuana has long been associated with mental illnesses, but most research
has concentrated on its links with schizophrenia and psychosis. Until now,
it had not been established that marijuana use actually caused depression.
It was thought depressed people might be turning to cannabis for relief or
that some personality types were prone to both depression and cannabis
dependence.

The study coincides with new concern about cannabis in Sydney where a
32-year-old surfer, Marcel Mitton, who had been smoking cannabis daily for
at least five years, drowned himself after a bout of depression last month.