Marijuana And Depression: Teen Use Not Linked To Depression, Study Suggests

New findings published in the journal Psychology of Addictive Behaviors found that contradictory to previous studies, teen marijuana use is not linked to physical or mental health issues.

"What we found was a little surprising," Jordan Bechtold, researcher and a psychology research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said in a statement. "There were no differences in any of the mental or physical health outcomes that we measured regardless of the amount or frequency of marijuana used during adolescence."

The most recent study was based on an offshoot of the Pittsburgh Youth Study that tracked 14-year-old male Pittsburgh public school students in the late 1980s, analyzing various health and social issues. Over 12 years, all participants were surveyed annually or semiannually. A follow-up survey was also conducted with 408 participants in 2009-10 when they were around the age of 36.

Fifty-four percent of the participants were black while 42 percent were white, and they were put into one of four groups, including the following: those who picked up the habit as an adult (21 percent); those who rarely or never used marijuana (46 percent); chronic users who started using the drug early (22 percent); and those who smoked marijuana only in their youth (11 percent.)

Findings revealed that chronic marijuana use by boys was not linked to health issues like asthma, depression and psychotic symptoms later in life. Furthermore, the study results also revealed no link between teen marijuana use and lifetime anxiety, depression, allergies, high blood pressure and/or headaches.

However, it's important to note that research from the American Lung Association has suggested that smoking marijuana can increase the risk of respiraratory issues, which may also lead to other health problems. 

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