The herbal remedy: Teens
use cannabis for relief, not recreation
Thursday, April 23,
2009
When legal therapies let them down, some teens turn to cannabis. A
new study, published in BioMed Central's open access journal
Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention and Policy suggests that
around a third of teens who smoke cannabis on a regular basis use
it as a medication, rather than as a means of getting high.
Joan Bottorff worked with a team of researchers from the University
of British Columbia, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research, to conduct in-depth interviews with 63 cannabis-using
adolescents. Of these, 20 claimed that they used cannabis to
relieve or manage health problems. Bottorff said, "Marijuana is
perceived by some teens to be the only available alternative for
those experiencing difficult health problems when legitimate
medical treatments have failed or when they lack access to
appropriate health care".
The most common complaints recorded were emotional problems
(including depression, anxiety and stress), sleep difficulties,
problems with concentration and physical pain. The teens'
experiences with the medical system were uniformly negative. The
authors said, "Youth who reported they had been prescribed drugs
such as Ritalin, Prozac or sleeping pills, stopped using them
because they did not like how these drugs made them feel or found
them ineffective. For these kids, the purpose of smoking marijuana
was not specifically about getting high or stoned".
The authors emphasize that the unmet medical needs of these teens
are of key importance in these findings. In contrast to the
unpleasant side effects of prescribed medications and long,
ineffective legal therapies, cannabis provided these adolescents
with immediate relief for a variety of health concerns. Of course,
cannabis isn't completely harmless, but as one of the respondents
noted, "It's not good for you, but then again, neither is
McDonald's and a lot of other things".
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BioMed Central
Thanks to BioMed Central for this
article.