MARIJUANA ABUSE MAY UP RISK OF DEPRESSION

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Adults who abuse marijuana may be putting
themselves at risk for depression, results of a new study indicate.

According to the report, adults who were not depressed when the study
began but who abused marijuana were about four times more likely to
report symptoms of depression 15 years later, compared with their
non-smoking peers.

These adults were especially likely to have had suicidal thoughts and
report a lack of interest in things that once held their interest,
Dr. Gregory B. Bovasso reports in the December issue of the American
Journal of Psychiatry. Pot smokers were four times more likely than
their non-smoking peers to have suicidal thoughts, and white women
were found to be at particular risk.

In the study, marijuana abuse was defined by various signs of problem
pot use, such as impaired work performance or using the drug on the
job.

Individuals who used other drugs such as amphetamines and opioids
were about 8 to 10 times more likely to be abusing pot 15 years
later. However, those who were depressed when the study began were no
more likely to abuse marijuana later on, according to the report,
which followed nearly 850 adults who were not depressed and more than
1,800 who did not report marijuana abuse at the study's start.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Bovasso suggested that future
studies investigate how excessive pot-smoking leads to a higher risk
of depression, examine why adults abuse marijuana and establish how
much pot is enough to put people at risk of becoming depressed.

In the meantime, the findings ``underscore the importance of cannabis
abuse prevention rather than treatment,'' because they highlight new
cases of depression arising among marijuana abusers, the report
concludes.

``Treatments or other interventions that prevent the abuse of
cannabis from occurring in the first place are important,'' Bovasso
said. ``On a general policy level, marijuana...may not be as harmless
as many believe.

''SOURCE: American Journal of Psychiatry 2001;158:2033-2037.