Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at high risk for serious mental problems: including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide, according to a new White House report.

marijuana (File Photo)

A teen who has been depressed at some point in the past year is more than twice as likely to have used marijuana as teens who have not reported being depressed -- 25 percent compared with 12 percent, said the report by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The intention of the report, said John Walters, director of the office, is to "try to correct two misunderstandings: That teen depression is not a problem and that teen marijuana use is not a problem - marijuana use is not safe."

The report also cited research that showed that teens who smoke marijuana when feeling depressed are more than twice as likely as their peers to abuse or become addicted to pot -- 8 percent compared with 3 percent.

Marijuana is one of the world's most commonly used illegal drugs. There are approximately 300 million users worldwide and 28 million users in the United States alone.

"The benign quality of marijuana, which has been an assumption since the '60s, is now seriously questioned by researchers, scientists and doctors," said Larry Greenhill, president-elect of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Teenage girls are especially at risk, the report said.

"Girls who smoke marijuana daily are significantly more likely to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety: Their odds are more than five times higher than those of girls who do not smoke marijuana," it said.

Since 2001, marijuana use among American teens has decreased 25 percent. Currently, about 2.3 million children use marijuana at least once a month, according to the drug control office.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency May 12, 2008)