Cannabis Use May Increase Risk of Suicidality in Young Adults, Study Suggests

Cannabis use appears to be associated with an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions in young adults, according to astudy published Tuesday inJAMA Network Open. These risks were similar regardless of whether the young adults had major depression and were more pronounced in women than men.“Suicide is a leading cause of death among young adults in the United States, and the findings of this study offer important information that may help us reduce this risk,” said lead study author Beth Han, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in anews release.Han and colleagues analyzed data collected from 281,650 adults aged 18 to 34 years who participated in the National Survey on Drug Use and Health between 2008 and 2019. As part of the survey, participants were asked about past-year major depressive episode and suicidal ideation, plan, and attempt. They were also asked about lifetime and past-year use of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine, as well as sociodemographic information (including age, sex, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, college/school enrollment, employment status, family income, marital status, and health insurance). The authors usedDSM-IV criteria to estimate the prevalence of past-year alcohol, cannabis, and cocaine use disorders and major depressive episode.Past-year suicidal ideation and plan along with daily cannabis use increased among all of the sociodemographic subgroups, with the exception of daily cannabis use ...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: cannabis use JAMA Network Open Nora Volkow suicidal ideation suicide suicide plan Source Type: research