title: Cannabis use and suicidal ideation.
abstract: Globally, suicide has emerged as the second leading cause of death among youth aged 10-24 years old. In order to better understand the causes of this phenomenon, we investigate the relationship between suicidal ideation and cannabis use. Our empirical analysis is based on a 30-year longitudinal study of a birth cohort. We find that intensive cannabis use - at least several times per week - leads to a higher transition rate into suicidal ideation for males. We find no evidence that suicidal ideation leads to cannabis use for either males or females.
authors.affiliation: Department of Economics, CentER, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. vanours@uvt.nl
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: van Ours
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fergusson
authors.forename: L John
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Horwood
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D036262:Empirical Research; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D002189:Marijuana Abuse / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D017678:Sex Distribution; D059020:Suicidal Ideation; D055815:Young Adult