Drug Czar's Report Sees Link Between Pot, Mental IllnessMay 4, 2005
Research Summary
People who first try marijuana at a young age are more likely to develop mental illnesses, according to a research review by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.CNN reported May 3 that federal drug czar John Walters said that while the rate of mental illness is about 8-9 percent among U.S. adults, the rate is 12-1/2 percent among those who use marijuana. Among those who used pot before age 12, mental-illness prevalence jumps to 21 percent, said Walters.
"We're trying to get out the word that the last 10 years of research have helped to alert us to the use of marijuana in particular is a very dangerous risk for the mental health of our young people," he said.
The data cited came from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a study of twins published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, and other sources. Walters did not address whether people with mental illness might be more predisposed to using drugs, including marijuana.
Walters singled out for criticism the various campaigns to legalize marijuana for medical use. "Your children are being educated," he said. "But they're being told lies. And they're being told things that are designed to push a particular agenda which is detrimental to your children, and detrimental to the country."
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