23 Apr 2009 - "B.C. teens self-medicate with marijuana: study "
By Helen Halbert
A new study conducted by B.C. researchers indicates that teenagers frequently use marijuana for medicinal, rather than recreational, purposes.
Joan Bottorff and a team of researchers from UBC conducted interviews with more than 60 teenagers—a third of whom claimed they smoked marijuana in order to self-medicate. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and was published in the journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy today.
Study participants were between 13 and 18 years old and were recruited from high schools in B.C., which the authors of the study noted was a province "known for its illicit marijuana production."
In the study, subjects differentiated run-of-the-mill recreational use of marijuana from medicinal use "by emphasizing their inability to find other ways to deal with their health problems, the sophisticated ways in which they titrated their intake, and the benefits that they experienced".
Marijuana was reportedly used as way for teens to cope with various health problems, including physical pain, depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties.
While medicinal marijuana and its applications for adults has become a popular topic of debate, it has rarely been studied among adolescents.
Test subjects cited failure of "the medical system to address their health problems"—including prescription drugs for ADD, ADHD, sleep disorders, and depression—as motivation for using marijuana for relief. Knowledge of other people's use of marijuana as treatment for health problems was also a factor for the interviewed adolescents.
The researchers noted that generally "the B.C. public is tolerant of marijuana use and support decriminalizing recreational use", and that in other contexts, teenagers might choose alcohol or other substances to cope with various problems.
"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," Bottorff said in a press release issued by BioMed Central.
The findings indicate that marijuana succeeded where the medical system failed: it provided the teenagers with temporary and immediate relief for health problems. The researchers also observed that the use of marijuana isn't without its problems. "It's not good for you, but then again, neither is McDonald's and a lot of other things," said one of the researchers.
http://www.tinyurl.com.au/x.php?1s78
A new study conducted by B.C. researchers indicates that teenagers frequently use marijuana for medicinal, rather than recreational, purposes.
Joan Bottorff and a team of researchers from UBC conducted interviews with more than 60 teenagers—a third of whom claimed they smoked marijuana in order to self-medicate. The study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and was published in the journal Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy today.
Study participants were between 13 and 18 years old and were recruited from high schools in B.C., which the authors of the study noted was a province "known for its illicit marijuana production."
In the study, subjects differentiated run-of-the-mill recreational use of marijuana from medicinal use "by emphasizing their inability to find other ways to deal with their health problems, the sophisticated ways in which they titrated their intake, and the benefits that they experienced".
Marijuana was reportedly used as way for teens to cope with various health problems, including physical pain, depression, anxiety, and sleep difficulties.
While medicinal marijuana and its applications for adults has become a popular topic of debate, it has rarely been studied among adolescents.
Test subjects cited failure of "the medical system to address their health problems"—including prescription drugs for ADD, ADHD, sleep disorders, and depression—as motivation for using marijuana for relief. Knowledge of other people's use of marijuana as treatment for health problems was also a factor for the interviewed adolescents.
The researchers noted that generally "the B.C. public is tolerant of marijuana use and support decriminalizing recreational use", and that in other contexts, teenagers might choose alcohol or other substances to cope with various problems.
"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," Bottorff said in a press release issued by BioMed Central.
The findings indicate that marijuana succeeded where the medical system failed: it provided the teenagers with temporary and immediate relief for health problems. The researchers also observed that the use of marijuana isn't without its problems. "It's not good for you, but then again, neither is McDonald's and a lot of other things," said one of the researchers.
http://www.tinyurl.com.au/x.php?1s78
posted by j.j