News in Brief

Today in AMNewYork (admittedly not the most reliable news source) there was an article about increased use of drugs and alcohol among teenaged girls. They describe a number of very relevant reasons girls have begun using drugs in such great quantities: to be liked, to fit in, to lose their inhibitions, to lose their weight. I found it interesting that we now include diet pills in our definition of drugs. But more on that later.

The article went on to say that adolescent marijuana users are five times more likely to experience a bout of major depression by the time they are 21. It implied (so that it practically stated) that marijuana (and other such things) is the cause of these depressions.

Now, I won't condone the use of drugs among adolescents and children. But this is ridiculous. They have completely ignored the fact that a very, very high percentage of drug users ARE depressives, and that's WHY they use the drugs in the first place! A huge number of cocaine users are bipolar. It's self-medication. To reverse the problem is to ignore it.

Geez.