Pubdate: Sat, 10 May 2008 Source: Washington Times (DC) Copyright: 2008 News World Communications, Inc. Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/A1kAshhc Website: http://www.washingtontimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492 Author: Cheryl Wetzstein Referenced: The 'new research' http://drugsense.org/url/t6qk16pD Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/depression Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana) TEEN DEPRESSION NOT AIDED BY POT Depressed teens who retreat into marijuana may be making their conditions worse, national anti-drug abuse leaders said yesterday, citing new research about brain function and mental illness. "The short message is marijuana is not safe and it's not a solution for depression," said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. New research is implicating marijuana as a risk factor for adolescent mental health problems, amplifying pre-existing depression in some teens and triggering it in others, Mr. Walters said at a National Press Club yesterday. There's also evidence that elements of marijuana can linger in certain parts of the brain, leading to impaired memory and learning, said Dr. Nora D. Volkow, head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Using marijuana is "not going to help anything," she said. "It will make life much worse." After the press conference, a Michigan teen spoke with reporters about her battle with pot. When she first tried it at age 15, "I liked the feeling," said Sonia, now 18, who asked that her last name not be printed. But the habit, which she sustained via friends who grew marijuana or sold it in suburban neighborhoods, led her to lose interest in everything but hanging out with friends. The pretty blonde, who has also had bouts of depression, is now at the Pathway Family Center treatment program in Southfield, Mich. "It's taken time, but I've figured out that I want to live a life that is productive," Sonia said, adding she expects to graduate from high school soon. When Sonia's mother, Lily, was asked what prompted her and her husband to put Sonia into treatment, the mother's eyes instantly welled with tears. "She had a plan to take her life," she said softly. Dr. Drew Pinsky, who hosts VH1's "Celebrity Rehab," a new reality show on overcoming addiction, said he and others who work in addiction medicine are not trying to create another "Reefer Madness" message. The goal is to clarify that the problems surrounding marijuana "are not mysterious; they are overwhelming and obvious," he said. "The benign quality of marijuana -- which has been an assumption from the '60s -- is now seriously questioned by researchers, scientists and doctors," said Dr. Larry Greenhill, president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. However, organizations that seek decriminalization of marijuana are not persuaded. Marijuana certainly shouldn't be used by children, said Bruce Mirken of the Marijuana Policy Project. But it has many medicinal uses and should be "treated like beer, wine and liquor," he said, adding: "It's very important to give out accurate information, not exaggerated scare stories." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake