Cannabis and ADHD: The Research

TODAY'S VIDEO

ADHD Treatments With Cannabis

Internet chat rooms are exploding with people talking about cannabis being used to treat ADHD. But does it really work? I thought I would never have to treat ADHD as it’s a diagnosis of childhood. However, all kinds of children who suffer with ADHD grow up to be adults who continue to have symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity. There’s the issue with being able to pay attention, but then there’s also the issue of being able to sit still.

It often affects people over the course of their entire lifetime as well as throughout their entire day. It not only impacts work and school outcomes, but it also impacts relationship outcomes at home. Finding products that are going to work well for people across the entire day and across the entire lifespan are really important.

Research Related to ADHD and Cannabis

I have a study to share with you that holds great promise for the treatment of impulsivity component at least of ADHD with cannabis. This study looked at cannabis users compared to healthy controls. A PET scanner was used, which is the functional version of the MRI. This specific MRI makes the brain light up or cool off in various locations depending on the input. People treated with methylphenidate (ADHD medication) and people treated with cannabis, have similar changes in metabolism in the cerebellum. In short, ADHD medications and cannabis affect the same portions of the brain when examined with an MRI.

If you’re dealing with impulsivity and/or difficulty sitting still, you may find that cannabis is going to give you a pretty similar outcome to methylphenidate. Further study is of course needed. Additional recommendations can’t be made at this time for managing ADHD in children. Due to the lack of information in regards to the way things work in an adolescent brain exposed to cannabis. But there may be some promise here for treatment or maybe some distillations of cannabis in the future. The pharmacology companies are certainly paying attention.

For more information on cannabis and impulsivity visit https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4052819/

Dr. Mary Clifton

Dr. Mary Clifton is an Internal Medicine doctor with 20 years of experience in both the hospital and private practice and a recognized expert in CBD, Cannabis, and Medical Marijuana.

She provides specialized consultation on patient and provider education, telemedicine and cannabinoids, and has worked with several pharmaceutical, CBD and cannabis corporations on areas of product development, speakers bureau, spokesperson, telemedicine, medical and scientific directorship.

Dr. Clifton is the bestselling author of “The Grass Is Greener: Medical Marijuana, THC & CBD OIL: Reversing Chronic Pain, Inflammation and Disease” and “Get Waisted”, as well as five companion cookbooks.   She speaks at major cannabinoid events around the world, including Africa, Europe and Asia.  

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