Thank you Gyanofskyfor inquiring about the effects of smoking pot by people who have ADHD. This is a very pertinent question. I haven't ever read, or found, where a legitimate scientific study has ever been completed on the effects of individuals smoking pot with ADHD. Although there have been studies completed on long term use of marijuana by the general public. I can only offer you personal data on my former use, personal observations that I have made over the past forty years and antidotal evidence that I have collected.  

Personal Data: I started smoking pot, forty years ago, at age fifteen. I started smoking only on weekends and progressed to where not having a buzz, whether awake or sleeping was abnormal. I found that after a while pot just wasn't getting it any more. It didn't matter how good it was or how much I smoked, it just made me tired and instead of wanting to party....I just wanted to take a nap. That was when I found "uppers" and my love affair with speed and mescaline started and lasted until I was twenty five. We didn't know anything about ADHD at that time. ADHD wasn't acknowledged yet and of course there wasn't any medication for it. Those of us that had ADHD turned to self medicating along with every one else.

I never was officially addicted but if we are honest with ourselves, what is addiction if it isn't finding out that you are out of pot and you know, you just want to smoke one, and you call a friend or two and they don't have any and before long you find yourself on a twenty or thirty minute drive just to smoke one?  

Why I quit? The realization one day or what I called an epiphany, that all of it.....pot, drugs and life style had become "not fun." It becomes a job wanting to get high all the time and you forget where you stuck your bag of dope and you know, it becomes a drag. So I walked away from all of it. I couldn't believe it, after a few weeks I could remember better, wasn't living in a fog anymore and I wasn't as lazy as I had been.  

Observations and Antidotal evidence collected:   I have friends that have been smoking dope for forty years. There isn't any one left alive who did coke, acid, pills, heroin and the like that didn't quit. I know of no one that has lived, that abused and continued to abuse heavy drugs.  Some people I know smoke daily, some only on weekends, some only smoke, while others smoke and drink. No matter how they smoke it or smoke it with, they all have to some degree, diminished mental capabilities. Short term memory gone, wasted opportunities through out their life, premature aging, relational issues, laziness, stuck in a time warp, health problems and the list can go on and on. Most have earned substantial less in income, over the years than what they could have by not having continued smoking pot.

Bottom line.... Long term pot smoking for the general public has been found to be devastating to ones life, how much more for those of us who have ADHD and start out with memory issues, relational issues and the like. We only have one brain and one life....please, make the best use of it.  

Blessings,

Tom 

focused

3/21/11 1:45am

Sorry,

Were you diagnosed with ADHD or are you just an armchair doctor? perhaps people posting don't understand the science involved with a non-addictive drug like pot  and why it can present like an addiction in in people with ADHD. The problem is improper medicinal dosing, type and improper method of administration. ADHD responds to stimulant drugs which are amphetamines and cocaine(ridalin) which help with dopamine uptake but causes cardio vascular stress. Cannibas Sativa acts the same way without dangerous side affects. Its proper use can result in improved focus with only positive memory impact as opposed to Indica cannabis which can have some of the qualities you describe. An ADHD person should thrive with daytime Sativa administered through edible methods once in the morning with breakfast and once with lunch as required. To ensure the user does not have any increases in anxiety or depression the user should switch in the evening to a dose of indica to gain further calm and relaxation. There are reputable sources including the head of Pediatrics at USC that agrees with this perspective so before people start taking speed just because your HMO and the maker are directing your doctor to push it your way do your homework and apply critical thinking. They always seem to have internal stidies from makers that are self reporting uncontrolled and have a reputation for putting greed ahead of public welfare.

I've been wondering that recently too. Personally I've found that weed alleviated some of the symptoms of adhd, most notably boredom, but made others like depression and impaired cognitive abilities worse. When I took marijuana as a medicine, the stronger doses severly inhibited my ability to function effectively in normal situations. The effects of regular medical marijuana also began to resemble those of speed, often times severly increasing my adhd symptoms. In my opinion marijuana is an effective treatment for adhd but should be avoided by those who have, or had, substance abuse issues.

Sir

9/28/10 2:14am

I must say Well put! very educational for all involved.good day.

 

 

 

                                Sir

I've been wondering the same thing. I think I may have adult ADD and have smoked pot every so often for about 15 years. I am lucky in that I get the same organic pot from the same person every time so it is always the same. To me, the difference is in the amount smoked. I only smoke a tiny bit, just enough to get my brain to calm down. I get just enough to be calm and quiet/able to listen, but not too much as to end up slow and sleepy. However, sometimes I feel like I have trouble retaining information obtained when I'm high, even if I was really focused on it when I was hearing or seeing it.

This works for me; I realize it's self medication, so I try to pay attention to the effects and I don't smoke every day.

I used marijuana for 25 years with complications of full-blown addiction to lots of drugs. It helped sometimes, usually made things worse while stoned. Once I got clean I realized that the hangover/residual effects did calm me down physically and mentally. Makes sense since thc has a two week half-life. Problem was I kept on using ll day. Mostly it was good for 15 minutes with a lot of discomfort afterwards. I see now that my untreated ADD made me so miserable that random relief kept me using. The sense of flow was rare fleeting and wonderful but I find it without marijuana today.

Drugging for relief of problems is the essence of addiction. Marijuana is not worth the risks, especially as a daily drug. People with ADHD have a poor track record staying clear of police and illegal drug arrests will not make you career path or life any easier. Leave medical marijuana for the dying.

I have adhd and i feel that weed helps me to stop thinking about everything all the time. right now while im typing this sentence im thinking about the wind outside, my family watching tv, if i type loudly, my glass of milk, my sisters radio playing some country song and it hasnt even been playing for a while. i feel like my mind is a merry go round spinning incredibly fast and thoughts keeping getting on but not getting off. so i continously think of them one by one, but so fast that they meld together and it feels like im thinking of them simultaneously. when im smoking im able to forget things that dont matter, and allow myself to relax to a state that i havent been able to find anywhere else in my life, including with prescription drugs that ive taken help my thinking. the higher i get the more i can relax my mind but as a side effect i get more and more forgetful which causes other problems like forgetting the subject that im talking about at the time which can be really bad. if im with people i dont know i appear to be a pushover and if im too high i am and cant help it. ill just forget about what made me pissed. i also start repeating myself because im not used to thinking that slowly. i feel that these are small sacrifices for the chance to let my mind ease without out all of the mental interferences, but i dont go past the point of short term memory loss if i have to do things or im with people that dont know i have adhd. being high does also enhance all of my emotions which can suck if im feeling sad or paranoid but it also helps me to think of good things and escape my tireless revolving mind. if you listen to hiphop or even if you dont try listening to kid cudi when your feeling an emotion you dont want to. it always makes me feel happy and content.

im so happy that i was able to find an open discussion on this topic ive never been able to talk to anyone who is going through the same thing. i wouldnt say that weed is good for everyone with adhd, because everyone is different. i do know that it is incredibly helpful to me and can be to others.

JayDubb

7/25/10 5:44pm

After having entirely too many people tell me that I may have A.D.D. I finally started looking into it. Wow what an eye opening experience it has been. Oneman I had to respond back to you because you describe what I've been living with to the letter. I also began smoking pot around 18. At about the age of 23 I began doing it on a regular basis. Soon I found myself more "attentive" to certain things. By the age of 25 I began smoking on a daily basis. I also found myself back in school. This time unlike any of my public school experience I found myself at the top of the class. I will 100% attribute it to my smoking of weed without a doubt. The ability is in me to do very well for myself, it always has been, I could just never focus before.

 

This is where I say I feel a strong connection with what you talked about. My normal (not high) is a cloud of everything in my life at once. One thought leads to another thought to another thought to another thought and many times on has very little to do with the next thought. One moment I'm thinking of my professional career and the next I'm thinking of when I was in 3rd grade staring out the window with the teacher talking straight at me and I'm not listening. I'm to the point where I make it known that if talk to me I tell them "Get to the point quick or I will quit listening to you and to not take it personal". I'm known for being involved in a full blown one on one conversation and next thing you know I'm lost in my own head. I'm good for telling people "I'm sorry I quit listening to you there for a minute, lets go back over that.". It all stems from the countless things going on in my head. 

 

You elude to things going on in your head so fast that they seem to all meld together and that it's like your thinking of them simultaneously all at the same time, I suffer from this exact same thing and I do repeat myself a lot. 

swooper1

12/24/10 8:31pm

Well stated!  I am just having a book published about my 57 years with ADD and 40 years of self medication with pot.  My story is a bit unusual as I self-medicated through thousands of history-making skydives where my mental acuity had to be razor sharp - or I was killed.  Plenty of my friends were killed but I was never injured in thrity years of falling and flying 'high'.  Go figure. 

Regards

I believe that marijuana is in fact a great herb to be used for A.D.H.D./A.D.D, as far as a number of other symptoms. I have smoked marijuana since I was about 13 yrs. old. I am 21 now. 

Of course it was due to peer pressure, but I did'nt see anything wrong with it. My father has smoked it since he was a teen and has NEVER had a problem with it. In fact, everyone I know who smokes it has had absolutely no bad affects from it.

I believe that people who have tried it and had a "bad expirience" were either not in the right setting, or were one of those who truely believe that it is a bad high.

I found out around 19 that I have A.D.D. but never realized it.

Now that I know, it makes it easier to indentify it.

I have also been struck with Grand-Mal Seizures a number of times.

When I come out of one, my senses are all f'ed up. Smoking a bowl not only takes my mind off of it, it also relieves any head-ache I may have aquired.

Marijuna has helped me not only physically, but socialy also, which is a very important part of life.

Wow...I do think if you do have add/adhd pot helps you focus and concentrate on topics/interests.  I believe that smoking pot (and having add) is very different experience then someone smoking that is not dealing w/ add issues....just like taking adderall for someone w/ add has a different effect, then someone just getting high, wanting to stay up, or lose weight.

I am new to adderall (1 month) but have been smoking a small/moderate amout of weed most days and see how they both boost seratonin/dopimine in the brain.

It would be so rad if studies would be done with reguards to smoking pot/add/and stimulant medications.  Thank you for all the posts...knowleadge is so powerful!!

I have a very similar story. I had been on adderal for many years and really dislike the side effects of sleepless nights and dry skin. I had smoked pot and at first it was too much for me and made me anxious then when I would smoke just a tiny bit and i realized that i really worked for me. I usual scatter all  over the place mind was at peace and daily task became easier to organize and execute with out so much stress. I became more focused and my usually very active mind was normal feeling and quiet. i feel I have foudn a solution to my servere adhd issue. Im happy i am not the only one that feels this way