New Research: Marijuana does not trigger depression or psychotic symptoms
A new study shows no link between chronic marijuana use during teen years and marijuana use.
The researches themselves also expressed their surprise with the results of the study. “What we found was a little surprising,” Dr. Jordan Bechtold, a psychology research fellow at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
“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,” he continued.
The study was released in the Psychology of Addictive Behavoirs and flew in the face of previous studies which linked chronic marijuana usage with depression, asthma, and psychotic disorders. The study spanned over 20 years and was one of the most extensive ever launched looking into the negative effects assumed to be associated with the drug. Marijuana users did not show any detrimental effects as opposed to the controls, and didn’t even have higher blood pressure or an increased heart rate.
The research began in 1987 and involved 408 participants and were monitored from the time they were 14 years. The participants were monitored over 22 years old. All of the participants were split into group of heavy, moderate, and infrequent users. They discovered through this that around 21% of those who used marijuana during their teen years would still continue to use into adulthood although the amount smoked dropped significantly.
The scientists involved showed great courage to publish their results which actually were the opposite of what they had expected. “We wanted to help inform the debate about legalization of marijuana, but it’s a very complicated issue and one study should not be taken in isolation,”
