Teenagers who use marijuana put themselves at high risk for serious mental problems: including worsening depression, schizophrenia, anxiety and suicide.

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.

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. "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.

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