Does Marijuana Help in Managing ADHD?
Marijuana has been in use among many people despite being an illegal substance at the federal level. However, some states have allowed usage for medical and recreational purposes. Nevertheless, the truth is marijuana contains beneficial components that could ease various disease symptoms, including ADHD, even though it leaves users feeling high.
The one marijuana component responsible for leaving you stoned is THC, which stands for tetrahydrocannabinol. However, the herb contains other substances called cannabinoids, which include THC and CBD as the dominant ones. It also has terpenes that give it the smell and taste. These components work together to provide relief for conditions such as ADHD.
How does marijuana work to help manage ADHD?
As mentioned earlier, the plant contains cannabinoids. When you consume it, these substances interact with the endocannabinoid system in your body that controls functions such as pain, immune responses, mood, appetite, and sleep. Your body naturally makes cannabinoids to balance these functions. When you supplement them with plant cannabinoids from marijuana, you boost your body’s ability to control the various functions.
Even though marijuana is intoxicating, anecdotal studies show that it provides relaxing, calming effects, which are valuable benefits for health issues such as anxiety, stress, and ADHD. It elevates your mood as well to enable you to feel better.
ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The condition is characterized by recurrent bouts of impulsivity and hyperactivity. Since marijuana offers a calming effect, it might ease ADHD symptoms to enable you to relax and focus on essential activities in your life.
The condition afflicts adults too, but most patients are teenagers and children. This poses a challenge. Children and others under 18 years old should not use marijuana. However, if you are older, you can speak to your doctor about using marijuana for your ADHD. However, people choose to self-medicate.
Nonetheless, more research is necessary to establish a solid link between ADHD and marijuana use. If you do not want to get high as you manage ADHD, marijuana is not an alternative since it is psychoactive.
Benefits of marijuana in managing ADHD
Some of the benefits marijuana offers you are as follows.
- Fewer side effects: the available drugs for treating ADHD tend to cause unpleasant side effects. Marijuana has few effects, and they are more tolerable.
- Stimulates dopamine production: when you have sufficient dopamine in your brain, you can concentrate better on a task. However, multiple studies reveal that people struggling with ADHD have low levels of dopamine in the brain, which affects their concentration. Marijuana stimulates the production of this substance to improve your focus.
- Helps you relax and regulate your mood: while some stimulant medications only assist with boosting attentiveness, marijuana does more. It also enables you to relax and maintain a stable mood, thus better manages ADHD. Note that mood swings, intense emotions, and mood regulation problems are symptoms of ADHD and marijuana might help alleviate them.
What are the potential risks of using marijuana for ADHD?
Every product has shortcomings, and so does marijuana.
- It may affect cognitive development in young users over a long period of use. Individuals who start using marijuana frequently before they turn sixteen are the most affected here. A 2013 study showed that people with ADHD who use marijuana performed poorly on verbal, memory, cognitive, and decision-making tests as compared to those who did not use the product.
- Marijuana is also addictive. It is a habit-forming drug, and the more you use it, your brain becomes more dependent on it to function normally. Marijuana makes you feel more composed than usual, but quitting the substance tends to worsen ADHD and withdrawal symptoms in physical and mental aspects.
The alternative for marijuana in managing ADHD
When you do not want to get stoned, the market has an alternative for you. Since handling ADHD involves you being able to calm down and relax so you can focus, CBD products made from industrial hemp could help with that.
Note that hemp and marijuana are both varieties of cannabis. However, they differ in composition. They both have cannabinoids, terpenes, and other beneficial components such as antioxidants.
The common cannabinoids in these two plants are CBD and THC. Hemp is rich in CBD and contains 0.3% THC or less. Therefore, it does not make you feel high. The CBD offers benefits, such as lowering anxiety, stress, and depression, and might ease ADHD. It provides the benefits marijuana offers without the high.
Marijuana, on the other hand, contains up to 40% THC, an amount that will make you feel high. It also has some CBD, though.
The advantage of CBD products is that they are legal at the federal level. The 2018 Farm Bill passed into law recognizes hemp and its derivatives, such as CBD, as legal products. However, some states are not clear about the legality of hemp and its extracts. To be on the safe side, make sure you check the regulations in your location about using hemp, as is the case with marijuana.
Marijuana and hemp products are available in various forms, including edibles, oils, and topicals. That way, you have a few options for getting both of them into your boy.
Marijuana might help in managing ADHD symptoms such as mood swings and intense emotions. It boosts dopamine levels in your brain, helps you relax, and improves your mood. However, it comes with risks as well, such as addiction and impairing cognitive development. Nevertheless, it poses fewer side effects. Before using marijuana for ADHD, talk to your doctor first. Do not self-medicate.