Are you forgetting your keys because you have ADHD, or because you’re high? If that question resonates with you, then you’ve come to the right place. Weed and ADHD have an interesting relationship and
1) People with ADHD use cannabis 2-3 times more than average people
The numbers don’t lie. People with ADHD love weed!
But why is that? Research published that analyzed online ADHD / marijuana content on forums may be our best bet at answering this.
According to the study's conclusions, cannabis is seen by many ADHD’ers as medicinal. A majority of shared content analyzed expressed that cannabis helps more with the attentiveness symptoms of ADHD rather than hyper-activity.
Despite this view being common, there is no clinical evidence of it yet being true largely due to a lack of research existing.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882033/
2) THC may increase dopamine levels
Dopamine is associated with motivation, focus, and pleasure. Low levels of dopamine are a key indicator of ADHD, which is why dopamine boosting stimulants like caffeine and adderall are heavily sought after by ADHD’ers. According to these two studies, both delta-8 THC and delta-9 THC may also increase dopamine.
1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7391971/
2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5123717/
This might factor into what has led many to supplement their prescribed stimulants with THC products. Cannabis is one of the most common forms of self-medication for many things, but it’s not a cure all. While many believe it helps them, without more clinical studies we can’t know for sure how THC affects unwanted ADHD symptoms.
3) Cannabis Use Disorder is more common amongst people with ADHD
Cannabis use disorder is essentially when weed is getting more out of you than you’re getting out of it. Research asserts that “ADHD symptoms are associated with increased cannabis use severity, craving, abuse, dependence, and earlier initiation of use.” This means it may be especially important for those with ADHD to practice having healthy relationships with weed; taking frequent tolerance breaks, and limiting their consumption.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30610198/
