They start high school and feel older. We no longer accompany them to class and go alone to extracurriculars. And, although we believe that "our son does not drink or smoke" the truth is that studies such as the '2018 Report on alcohol, tobacco and drugs' of the Ministry of Health, demonstrate another reality.
Also the research 'Association of cannabis use in adolescence and the risk of suffering depression, anxiety or suicidal tendencies in early adulthood', recently published in Jama Psychiatry-, reaches the same conclusion and ensures that cannabis use in preteens and adolescents is associated with a significantly higher risk of developing depression or suicide in early adulthood.
A great study with representative figures
The Oxford University (United Kingdom) and McGill University (Canada) article is the result of a systematic review and meta-analysis of 3,142 existing articles and the analysis of 23,317 people (of 11 international studies) to check whether the cannabis use in preteens) and adolescents is linked to depression, anxiety and suicide in early adulthood, between 18 and 32 years.
In Babies and more, our teenagers also suffer from depression and anxiety, and it is important to identify it in time to actWith the data on paper, the researchers insist on the serious problem of this reality. The attributable risk was found to be around seven percent, which translates into more than 400,000 cases of teenage depression potentially attributable to cannabis exposure in the United States, 25,000 in Canada and around 60,000 in the United Kingdom.
In Spain, the figures are not encouraging either. According to the '2018 Report. Alcohol, tobacco and illegal drugs in Spain', cannabis is the illegal psychoactive substance with the greatest presence among students aged 14 to 18. In 2016, 31 percent of teenagers had used cannabis sometime before their 15th birthday.
A serious problem for the development of young people
Dr. Andrea Cipriani, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, explains how they conducted the study:
"We observe the effects of cannabis because its use among young people is very common, but the long-term effects are not yet well known. We carefully select the best studies since 1993 and include only the methodologically sound ones to rule out important confounding factors, such as premorbid depression. "
And he adds that his findings on depression and suicide are very relevant for clinical practice and public health:
"Regular consumption during adolescence is related to lower school performance, addiction, psychosis, increased risk of traffic accidents and respiratory problems.""Although the size of the negative effects of cannabis can vary among individual adolescents and it is not possible to predict the exact risk for each adolescent, the widespread use of cannabis among young generations makes it a major public health problem."
The active ingredient in cannabis, THC, affects most psychoactive and mood-related effects and has addictive properties. It is believed that this substance may alter the physiological neurodevelopment (frontal cortex and limbic system) of adolescent brains. Young people who consume cannabis in a timely manner do not suffer any changes in the brain, but regular consumers and large doses do.
In Babies and more Half of mental disorders begin before age 14: keys to prevent and identify these problemsSeen this way, I think it would be interesting for our children to know the harmful effects that this illegal drug can cause them now and as adults.
It is easy to understand that smoking cannabis multiplies the chances of having a psychotic episode three to five times. And that, sometimes, those psychotic episodes are not reversible and end up producing pathologies such as schizophrenia.
They should understand that their consumption not only negatively affects their health, but also interferes with other areas of their lives: legal, family problems and poor academic performance, as explained by the reports of the Man Project, drug dependence assistance centers, When talking about cannabis.
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