Cannabis. L’uso nell’adolescenza induce depressione e suicidi nell’adulto.
Giuseppe Sandro Mela.
2019-02-23.
Jama Psichiatry, uno dei più noti e diffusi giornali medici a livello mondiale, ha pubblicato un articolo che riporta uno studio condotto su 23,317 persone che avevano consumato nell’adolescenza cannabis.
«adolescent cannabis consumption was associated with increased risk of developing depression and suicidal behavior later in life, even in the absence of a premorbid condition.»
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«Preadolescents and adolescents should avoid using cannabis as use is associated with a significant increased risk of developing depression or suicidality in young adulthood»
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«these findings should inform public health policy and governments to apply preventive strategies to reduce the use of cannabis among youth»
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«Cannabis is the most commonly used drug of abuse by adolescents in the world»
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«After screening 3142 articles, 269 articles were selected for full-text review, 35 were selected for further review, and 11 studies comprising 23 317 individuals were included in the quantitative analysis»
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«The OR of developing depression for cannabis users in young adulthood compared with nonusers was 1.37 (95% CI, 1.16-1.62; I2 = 0%)»
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«The pooled OR for suicidal ideation was 1.50 (95% CI, 1.11-2.03; I2 = 0%), and for suicidal attempt was 3.46 (95% CI, 1.53-7.84, I2 = 61.3%).»
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«the high prevalence of adolescents consuming cannabis generates a large number of young people who could develop depression and suicidality attributable to cannabis»
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«This is an important public health problem and concern, which should be properly addressed by health care policy.»
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Si dovrebbe amaramente constatare come la politica sia pesantemente entrata in un settore che avrebbe dovuto restare di appannaggio degli scienziati. Questo articolo comparso su Forbes dovrebbe essere esplicativo.
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«It began with then-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions sending waves of uncertainty and fear over the cannabis industry and legalization supporters on January 4, when he formally rescinded Obama-era guidelines protecting state marijuana laws.
But as 2018 went on, even more states ended up changing their laws to allow for legal recreational or medical cannabis use despite the conflict with federal law. Efforts to end national prohibition in Congress picked up steam as well. And several nations moved to significantly overhaul their marijuana laws.
Here’s a look back at marijuana’s 10 biggest victories of the year:
Lawmakers Start Passing Marijuana Legalization Bills
It didn’t take long for pro-legalization forces to get a victory on the board after Session’s anti-cannabis attack. Just hours later, on the very same day the attorney general threw the previous administration’s federal cannabis protections in the trash, Vermont lawmakers voted to approve a marijuana legalization bill. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, went on to sign the legislation, which allows adults to grow and possess small amounts of cannabis but does not provide for a system of legal sales. That made Vermont the first state in the nation to enact legalization by an act of lawmakers instead of through a ballot initiative. ….
During last month’s midterms, voters in Michigan strongly approved a ballot measure making their state the fist in the Midwest to legalize adult-use marijuana. No longer relegated to the coasts, legal markets for recreational marijuana are now an emerging nationwide trend. Separately, while not nearly as far-reaching as ending prohibition and allowing legal sales, voters in five Ohio cities also approved local cannabis decriminalization ballot measures on Election Day, signaling that a regional Midwest movement for marijuana reform is on the rise.»
In linea generale si potrebbe affermare che i liberal democratici sostengono la liberalizzazione e depenalizzazione dell’uso della cannabis, mentre i repubblicani vi si oppongono. I liberal democratici sostengono l’uso della cannabis come momento di trionfo della libertà accusando i repubblicani di essere liberticidi: per loro la cannabis sarebbe innocua se non benefica.
I liberal democratici hanno fatto del libero uso della cannabis un pilastro portante della loro azione politica. Non sei liberal se non fumi la cannabis.
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Questo studio evidenzia come l’uso della cannabis da adolescenti sia significativamente associato all’insorgenza di sindromi depressive che conducono spesso al suicidio.
«the high prevalence of adolescents consuming cannabis generates a large number of young people who could develop depression and suicidality attributable to cannabis»
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Solo due anni or sono nessuna rivista scientifica si sarebbe mai azzardata a pubblicare un lavoro del genere, anche se tutti i materiali erano già disponibili: sarebbe stato un suicidio politico, con immediata radiazione dalla fruizione di fondi pubblici per la ricerca.
Significativo il commento di un noto senatore repubblicano:
“La cannabis la fumano i democratici:
se alla fine si suicidano, tanto di guadagnato”.
Nota.
In epidemiologia l’odds ratio (OR) è la misura dell’associazione tra due fattori, per esempio tra un fattore di rischio e una malattia. Il calcolo dell’odds ratio prevede il confronto tra le frequenze di comparsa dell’evento (ad esempio, malattia) rispettivamente nei soggetti esposti e in quelli non esposti al fattore di rischio in studio. Esso è utilizzato negli studi retrospettivi (caso-controllo), dove non è necessaria la raccolta dei dati nel tempo, infatti esso non calcola un andamento ed è, anzi, indipendente dal fattore durata. Negli studi prospettici si utilizza invece, allo stesso scopo, il calcolo del rischio relativo.
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JAMA Psychiatry. Published online February 13, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.4500
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Key Points
Question Is adolescent cannabis consumption associated with risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in young adulthood?
Findings In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 studies and 23 317 individuals, adolescent cannabis consumption was associated with increased risk of developing depression and suicidal behavior later in life, even in the absence of a premorbid condition. There was no association with anxiety.
Meaning Preadolescents and adolescents should avoid using cannabis as use is associated with a significant increased risk of developing depression or suicidality in young adulthood; these findings should inform public health policy and governments to apply preventive strategies to reduce the use of cannabis among youth.
Abstract
Importance Cannabis is the most commonly used drug of abuse by adolescents in the world. While the impact of adolescent cannabis use on the development of psychosis has been investigated in depth, little is known about the impact of cannabis use on mood and suicidality in young adulthood.
Objective To provide a summary estimate of the extent to which cannabis use during adolescence is associated with the risk of developing subsequent major depression, anxiety, and suicidal behavior.
Data Sources Medline, Embase, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Proquest Dissertations and Theses were searched from inception to January 2017.
Study Selection Longitudinal and prospective studies, assessing cannabis use in adolescents younger than 18 years (at least 1 assessment point) and then ascertaining development of depression in young adulthood (age 18 to 32 years) were selected, and odds ratios (OR) adjusted for the presence of baseline depression and/or anxiety and/or suicidality were extracted.
Data Extraction and Synthesis Study quality was assessed using the Research Triangle Institute item bank on risk of bias and precision of observational studies. Two reviewers conducted all review stages independently. Selected data were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis.
Main Outcomes and Measures The studies assessing cannabis use and depression at different points from adolescence to young adulthood and reporting the corresponding OR were included. In the studies selected, depression was diagnosed according to the third or fourth editions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or by using scales with predetermined cutoff points.
Results After screening 3142 articles, 269 articles were selected for full-text review, 35 were selected for further review, and 11 studies comprising 23 317 individuals were included in the quantitative analysis. The OR of developing depression for cannabis users in young adulthood compared with nonusers was 1.37 (95% CI, 1.16-1.62; I2 = 0%). The pooled OR for anxiety was not statistically significant: 1.18 (95% CI, 0.84-1.67; I2 = 42%). The pooled OR for suicidal ideation was 1.50 (95% CI, 1.11-2.03; I2 = 0%), and for suicidal attempt was 3.46 (95% CI, 1.53-7.84, I2 = 61.3%).
Conclusions and Relevance Although individual-level risk remains moderate to low and results from this study should be confirmed in future adequately powered prospective studies, the high prevalence of adolescents consuming cannabis generates a large number of young people who could develop depression and suicidality attributable to cannabis. This is an important public health problem and concern, which should be properly addressed by health care policy.
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