US government-funded studies tend to look at Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) as a risk factor for cannabis use and the dubiously defined cannabis use disorder (CUD).
However, NORML has been gathering and analyzing studies demonstrating positive effects of cannabis on the symptoms of ADHD and the side effects of the drugs commonly prescribed for it. Some of these are:
– According to survey data gathered by a pair of investigators with Washington State University involving 1,738 students with ADHD and published in the Journal of Attention Disorders in 2021, “cannabis has acute beneficial effects on many symptoms of ADHD (e.g., hyperactivity, impulsivity). Further, they perceived cannabis to improve most of their medication side effects (e.g., irritability, anxiety). Finally, cannabis use frequency was a significant moderator of the associations between symptom severity and executive dysfunction.” Read more.
– According to data published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology Reports in 2023 gathered from a cohort of 68 patients with ADHD enrolled in the UK Medical Cannabis Registry, researchers reported improvements in patients’ anxiety, sleep quality, and overall health-related quality of life following cannabis treatment. Over one-third of patients ceased taking at least one ADHD prescription drug medication over the course of the study. Read more.
– The adjunctive use of cannabis is associated with symptom mitigation and improvements in ADHD patients’ quality of life, according to case reports published in the journal Medical Cannabis and Cannabinoids in 2022. Canadian researchers documented improvements in three male ADHD patients, ages 18, 22, and 23, following the integration of cannabis into their treatment regimen. Following the use of cannabis, patients showed improvements in depression, anxiety, and in their ability to pay attention. Researchers said that the findings suggested that “cannabis played a complimentary role in the therapeutic regimen of these three patients.” Read more.
– The use of medical cannabis is associated with a reduction in the use of ADHD medications in patients diagnosed with the syndrome, according to data published in the Israeli medical journal Rambam Maimonides in 2020. Israeli investigators surveyed 59 patients with ADHD who possessed a license from the Ministry of Health to access medical cannabis products. They reported that the use of medical cannabis, and in particular products dominant in the cannabinoid CBN (cannabinol), was associated with medication-sparing effects. Read more.
– In 2017, British scientists conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of cannabis extracts in 30 adults with ADHD. Treatment was associated “with a nominally significant improvement in hyperactivity/impulsivity and a trend for improvement in inattention. There were further indications for improvement in activity and cognitive performance, and emotional lability.” Investigators concluded: “ADHD may represent a subgroup of individuals that gain cognitive enhancement and reduction of ADHD symptoms from the use of cannabinoids, according to clinical trial data published online ahead of print in the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology. Read more.
– The administration of herbal cannabis eases symptoms in adults suffering from ADHD, according to clinical trial data presented in 2015 at the 7th European Workshop on Canabinoid Research. German investigators evaluated cannabis’ effects in 30 patients suffering from treatment-resistant ADHD. Researchers reported that a majority of subjects experienced a mitigation in ADHD symptoms, including “improved concentration and sleep, and reduced impulsivity,” following cannabis therapy. Twenty-two of the 30 patients in the cohort elected to discontinue their use of pharmaceutical drugs during the study period, instead opting to solely use cannabis to treat their symptoms. Read more.
– In 2008, Oral administration of synthetic THC capsules was found to mitigate symptoms of ADHD, according to a case study published by the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine (IACM, Germany). Investigators at the Heidelberg University Medical Center reported that smoking cannabis dramatically improved the performance, behavior, and mental state of a 28-year-old male patient diagnosed with severe ADHD. “The present case report suggests that individuals suffering from ADHD … may – in some cases – benefit from cannabis treatment in that it appears to regulate activation to a level which may be considered optimum for performance,” researchers concluded. Full text of the case study appeared in the German journal Archives of Criminology. Read more.
Do cannabis users not have the right to treat their ADHD with prescribed medications, even if they’re using cannabis for medical reasons (like sleep disorders or pain), sometimes treating the effects of ADHD itself or its pharmaceutical treatments? Doctors at Kaiser Healthcare don’t seem to think so. Cal NORML has received numerous complaints from ADHD patients being kicked off their medications if they test positive for cannabis, possibly in violation of state law. Read more.