Please use this link to access this publication. Abstract Purpose: Twenty-nine states have bypassed federal regulations by legalizing marijuana (MJ) either medicinally, recreationally or both. The FDA states that there is no empirical evidence that MJ is effective to treat these disorders. With over a billion individuals living with a disability across the globe, it is crucial to fully research the efficaciousness and safety of medical MJ to treat this population. The purpose to present the results of a scoping review of studies focused on the levels of evidence currently available on medical MJ’s efficacy in treatment across a large range of disabilities. Methods: Databases were...

Abstract Background: Despite the lack of evidence on the use of cannabis for the treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), the growing perception that cannabis is safe has led more patients and caregivers to self-medicate. Some psychiatrists now authorize medicinal cannabis for patients with ADHD with features of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) to curtail the unregulated (ie, self-medicated) use of recreational cannabis or to offer a therapeutic option to those who continue to experience symptoms after exhausting all other treatment options. Objective: This protocol aims to explore the perceived effectiveness and pharmacokinetics of cannabis in youth and young adults, who are currently taking it as...

Please use this link to access this publication. Abstract Objectives We hypothesized that prenatal cannabis exposure (PCE) would be associated with increased attention problems and altered neurocognition in young adolescents. Methods Data were obtained from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD study®), a cohort of approximately 12,000 children. Presence or absence of PCE after knowledge of pregnancy was measured by caregiver report. All participants with PCE (N = 224) were included and compared to two control groups; those matched on tobacco and alcohol exposure and those without prenatal tobacco or alcohol exposures. Outcomes were measured with the ABCD baseline assessment when participants were 9–10...

Please use this link to access this publication. Abstract Objective: People with ADHD are more likely to use cannabis but little is known about the effects of cannabis on ADHD symptoms, ADHD medication side effects, or ADHD-related executive dysfunction. Method: Students (n = 1,738) completed an online survey containing measures of ADHD symptoms, cannabis use, perceived effects of cannabis on ADHD symptoms and medication side effects, as well as executive dysfunction. Results: Participants with ADHD who have used cannabis reported that 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...

Abstract Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a chronic neurobehavioral disorder that is highly prevalent in children and adults. An increasing number of patients with ADHD are self-medicating with cannabis, despite a lack of evidence on efficacy and safety. This case report describes 3 males (ages 18, 22, and 23) who have integrated cannabis into their treatment regimen with positive results. Semistructured interviews conducted with the patients describe subjective improvements in symptoms and on quality of life. Improvements on validated rating scales conducted post-cannabis initiation, compared to pre-cannabis initiation obtained from the medical chart, corroborated their personal accounts. Scores on the PHQ-9 (measuring depression)...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a highly heritable disorder affecting some 5-10% of children and 4-5% of adults. The cannabinoid receptor gene (CNR1) is a positional candidate gene due to its location near an identified ADHD linkage peak on chromosome 6, its role in stress and dopamine regulation, its association with other psychiatric disorders that cooccur with ADHD, and its function in learning and memory. We tested SNP variants at the CNR1 gene in two independent samples—an unselected adolescent sample from Northern Finland, and a family-based sample of trios (an ADHD child and their parents). In addition to using the trios for association...

The co-occurrence of drug addiction in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is very common, but its etiology remains largely unknown. Therefore, animal models to study this kind of psychiatric comorbidity are needed. The Spontaneously Hypertensive Rat (SHR) strain shows neurochemical and behavioral characteristics which make it a suitable model of ADHD. Compared with their normotensive controls (Wistar-Kyoto) and with some other rat strains, SHR rats drink more ethanol and are more sensitive to its anxiolytic/stimulant effects. They also show increased sensitivity to psychostimulants, opioids and cannabinoids. Furthermore, chronic treatment with methylphenidate, the first-choice drug to treat ADHD, during adolescence, changes the ethanol...

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by attention deficits and an altered activation level. The purpose of this case investigation was to highlight that people with ADHD can benefit in some cases from the consumption of THC. A 28-year old male, who showed improper behaviour and appeared to be very maladjusted and inattentive while sober, appeared to be completely inconspicuous while having a very high blood plasma level of delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Performance tests, which were conducted with the test batteries ART2020 and TAP provided sufficient and partly over-averaged results in driving related performance. Thus, it has to be considered, that in the case of...

Rationale: Cannabis preparations are the most widely consumed illicit drugs, and their use typically begins in adolescence. The prevalence of cannabis abuse is higher in patients with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than in the general population, yet, knowledge about the motivational properties of cannabinoids in animal models of ADHD are lacking. Objective: To compare the motivational effects of the synthetic cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2 (WIN) in adolescent and adult spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), a validated animal model of ADHD, and Wistar rats, representing a “normal” genetically heterogeneous population. We also asked whether the effects of WIN depended (1) on the activation of the cerebral subtype...