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Teen drug use associated with psychiatric disorders later in life

Children who start to use alcohol, marijuana or other illicit drugs in their early teen years are more likely to experience psychiatric disorders, especially depression, in their late 20’s. Although teens who started smoking at an early age were at increased risk for alcohol dependence and substance use disorders in their late 20’s, they did not appear to be at an increased risk for depression or other psychiatric disorders. However, initiating tobacco use in late adolescence was associated with depression and other psychiatric disorders in the late 20s.