La Casa Blanca liga la depresión juvenil con uso de drogas
Un adolescente que ha estado deprimido en algún momento del año pasado es dos veces más proclive a haber usado marihuana que adolescentes que no sufrieron períodos depresivos -un 25% comparado con un 12%- indicó la Oficina Nacional de Control de Drogas de la Casa Blanca.
John Walters, director de la oficina, dijo que los efectos de la marihuana son más peligrosos de lo que se pensaba anteriormente, y que no es una droga "que los jóvenes usan como objeto de experimentación" en Estados Unidos y luego dejan de consumir.
FOTOS DE ESTADOS UNIDOS

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: Children from Baghdad's Chaldean Catholic community smile in the pews at a mass attended by Iraqi Christians, local Muslim tribal leaders, and US soldiers November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. But a recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted hundreds of worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: Monsignor Shelman Wardoun, a Chaldean Catholic bishop, is escorted by US soldiers after conducting a Catholic mass November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. A recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted around a hundred worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: A man from Baghdad's Chaldean Catholic community reads over hymms printed in Arabic at a mass attended by Iraqi Christians, local Muslim tribal leaders, and US soldiers November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. A recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted around a hundred worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: Local Muslim tribal leaders attend a mass in a Chaldean Catholic church in a service attended by Iraqi Christians, local Muslim tribal leaders, and US soldiers November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. A recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted around a hundred worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: Iraqi Chaldean Catholics stand in pews during a mass attended by Iraqi Christians, local Muslim tribal leaders, and US soldiers November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. But a recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted around a hundred worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
Getty Images

BAGHDAD, IRAQ - NOVEMBER 15: Local Muslim tribal leaders attend a mass in a Chaldean Catholic church in a service attended by Iraqi Christians, local Muslim tribal leaders, and US soldiers November 15, 2007 in Bagdhad, Iraq. The service was held at St. John the Baptist, a church in the neighbohood of Dora that closed earlier this year due to Islamic militant threats. A recent decrease in violence has allowed the Iraqi Christians to re-open the church for the first time in seven months, and the afternoon mass attracted around a hundred worshippers. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)
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A protesters stands in front of the Music Box theater where the show 'The Farnsworth Invention' is canceled near Times Square Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 in New York. Farnsworth is the chap who invented television 80 years ago, then was cheated out of his due credit, fame and riches. He died in 1971, but, 36 years later, was poised for a posthumous revival. A new play about him was opening on Broadway, then theater stagehands went on strike. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
AP

A sign on the door of the Music Box Theater announces that the show 'The Farnsworth Invention' is canceled Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 in New York. Farnsworth is the chap who invented television 80 years ago, then was cheated out of his due credit, fame and riches. He died in 1971, but, 36 years later, was poised for a posthumous revival. A new play about him was opening on Broadway, then theater stagehands went on strike. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
AP

Pedestrians and traffic pass the Music Box theater where the show 'The Farnsworth Invention' is canceled near Times Square Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 in New York. Farnsworth is the chap who invented television 80 years ago, then was cheated out of his due credit, fame and riches. He died in 1971, but, 36 years later, was poised for a posthumous revival. A new play about him was opening on Broadway, then theater stagehands went on strike. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
AP

Protesters gather in front of the Music Box theater where the show 'The Farnsworth Invention' is canceled near Times Square Thursday, Nov. 15, 2007 in New York. Farnsworth is the chap who invented television 80 years ago, then was cheated out of his due credit, fame and riches. He died in 1971, but, 36 years later, was poised for a posthumous revival. A new play about him was opening on Broadway, then theater stagehands went on strike. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
AP
El informe también dijo, citando investigaciones, que adolescentes que fuman marihuana cuando se sienten deprimidos son dos veces más proclives que sus homólogos a convertirse en adictos, un 8% comparado con un 3%.
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"He visto que muchas vidas de jóvenes fueron afectadas de manera adversa ... por la marihuana", dijo Elizabeth Stanley-Salazar, directora de servicios para adolescentes del centro de tratamiento Phoenix House, en California. "Es como la ruleta rusa. Hay muchos factores, emocionales, psicológicos, biológicos. No puede pronosticarse la experimentación, o cómo afectará a un joven".
En su conjunto, el uso de marihuana entre los adolescentes norteamericanos bajó un 25% desde el 2001. En la actualidad, unos 2,3 millones de jóvenes fuman marihuana al menos una vez al mes, dijo la oficina de control de drogas.
Aunque la reducción es alentadora, Walters pidió a los padres que reconozcan señales de posible uso de drogas y de depresión.
"No hay que mirar para otro lado cuando un adolescente comienza a aparecer despreocupado, se retira de su familia, y pierde interés en las actividades diarias", dijo Walters. "Hay que descubrir lo que anda mal".
En la internet:
White House Office of National Drug Control Policy: (Oficina Nacional de Control de Drogas de la Casa Blanca) http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov