marijuana

[Ian]

clueless I think I have exactly the same response to grass as you describe. I react to it as a stimulant. I can't tolerate smoke though. Currently I'm trying to find information regarding it's use and synthesis.

The FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) surrounding this drug is amazing. It is preventing people from seriously considering it's use medicanally. Anything can be abused and I was bad for abuse of almost everything.

I expect that I would find this compound at least as useful as Dexedrine in addressing my ADHD symptoms. I would likely do some trials if I could have the substance in some other form than smoking. Cooking it into food seems a pretty lame way to regulate doseage so I'm not willing to go there. My memories of eating grass baked into food was far to extreme and only amounted to abuse.

When left to my own though, I always used it so very sparingly. I guess this was my first successful self medication. I am prone to depression, lethargy and am distactable has all get all, and I remember this stuff helping on those fronts. I wish I knew more about the substance. It seems surrounded by hysteria when people seem so much more willing to entertain much more sophisticated offerings from the pharmaceutical industry.

No matter the bias.. smoking is lethal for me.. I can not tolerate anything of the sort now. I used to smoke tobacco heavily and now I can't even be in a room with smokers comfortably. My lungs just can't take the abuse.

Most of what I find on-line seems to document the problems regarding smoking as the primary issues regarding ADHD and marijuana derivatives. Obviously many of us are substance abusers and thus marijuana is rightly associated negatively with people like me.

If anyone has any experience with any of these trains of thought please comment.

http://rxmarihuana.com/shared_comments/Gordon.htm

[Ian]

From:
http://www.rxmarihuana.com/q&a.htm

This about sums up my experience trying to find scientific information regarding the use of marijuana to treat ADD/ADHD
Cheers! Ian.


It was more than a decade ago that I first had the experience of observing a high school student with ADHD treat this disorder much more successfully with cannabis than with his doctor-prescribed Ritalin. His mother (now deceased), a vice president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who had asked me to see him for evaluation, was also persuaded that he did much better while using cannabis than he ever did with Ritalin. Since that time I have seen a number of patients, both young people and adults, who have had similar experiences. I have also heard from many others; still I have seen no reference to this possibility in the scientific or medical literature. I think that we are now in the same situation we were with Tourette's syndrome about a decade ago; a number of anecdotal reports but nothing in the medical literature. Today you can find citations in the literature on cannabis as a treatment for Tourette's. The bottom line is that this use of cannabis for the treatment of ADHD is still in the clinical observation or anecdotal stage, and it may be impossible to find the citations you seek.

[t-bird]

Hmmm... Very interesting, is medicinal marijuana legal in a lot of places?

[Ian]

I believe it's a perscription medication here in Canada except that no one can fill your prescription legally as I understand it. Some have applied for an exemption first.

I've been looking at a lot of links so I'll start another thread under the "Misc. Treatments and approaches" soon.
Hope this helps. Ian.

[Jellybean]

Marijuana worsens my symptoms except if I have to do tedious labor like cleaning grout or polishing silver. I can't sleep if I smoke and the same if I drink. I figured that out when I was 20ish. I realized then that all that time it was lowering my blood sugar and was the absolute worse thing for my hypoglycemia.
I was brought up with a lot of weed at my disposal.

It also makes me over creative and I will do ten million projects and be unable to clean up or stop making messes. I am already like that enough!
my ex self medicates with it and feels better though.

[Ian]

I have the same response as you describe except when I take very small doses. Then it's a different experience for me. All this is from memory though. I intend to do some trials but to do that legally will take some time and the concent of my doctor and pharmacist.

I would really like to start another thread in in another forum but my week is slipping away from me as it is.. maybe later.

Cheers! Ian.

[t-bird]

Are the effects of marijuana in small doses similiar to any other drugs?

[Ian]

That's a tough one to answer. Like most posts regarding drugs/medication you'll see a wide range of responses of people to different drugs. If my memory serves me correctly my response to small does is similar to Dexedrine in many ways except grass has a euphoric element that seems absent for me with Dexedrine.

My new found love of exercise has provided me with a good dose of "happy" though and that's been great! Cheap, legal and available to all. Tough to beat.

I'm not going to get to making another thread on this any time soon so I'll add what I know here.

The primary concerns about smoking the stuff can be addressed with a vapouriser. I had never heard of such a thing before last night. It does not use combustion to release the active ingredients. As it turns out the active ingredients vapourize long before combustion takes place. This is news to me but with some searching last night it seems plenty popular with the medicinal and recreational users. It makes good sense too in a couple of ways. A cheap vapouriser is less than $20 USD delivered.

First of course is that you don't need to inhale smoke! Smoking is just plain bad no matter which way I look at it.

The second is that you can metre down very small doses with precision.

In Canada at least there appears to be legal ways to possess and use this drug for medicinal purposes.

Cheers! Ian.

[apcpapergirl]

I tried it when in High School, but didn't like the way it made me feel, so haven't touched it since.

[Ian]

I used and abused it like everything else but by the time I was in senior high school I had begun to use it as medication I think.

It's a curious thing to be getting a clearer picture of my life as a kid.

Cheers! Ian.

[Jellybean]

Pot for me is like getting all wired in the brain, and physically feeling unable to keep up with my brain. When I am very physically active I tend to run on adrenilum and I am a whirlwind and I feel great, if I were to smoke it and keep up a physical pace I am alright, but if I stop, it is hard to get going again. And my head is busting with inventiveness/creativeness.

Pot doubles the actionin my already over active brain.

Even just a teeny tiny dose. It always amazes me that it can affect another just the opposite, or that anyone can sleep on it.

For me I can't compare Marijuana in small or large doses with any drug. I haven't really tried any mind altering prescription drugs.
But I have done plenty of illegal drugs in the past. I made a deal with myself that when I turned 20 I would stop.

I have never found one that helped my ADhd without physical repercussions. So luckily I never had a problem.

I am also feeling happy and productive because I am getting exercise. I love warm weather that is my drug of choice!

[apcpapergirl]

One of my "drivers" at work smokes or use to smoke marijuana to relieve his pain. About 6 months ago or so there was a drug bust at his home and he & wife were both arrested.

In High School I smoked it often. It just made me feel too weird.. couldn't think straight at all. Therefore.. I haven't tried it again. I believe if I were in pain.. I would, if it helped relieve my pain.

[clueless]

hey itschaotic,

good to know there's someone out there who can relate. the only thing i have against marijuana is that there's a high corelation between those who smoke it and those who develop schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. you can look this up online, there's been lots of studies done on the subject.

i believe that pot changed my brain chemistry permanently. since i take a low dose of risperdal (an anti-psychotic) for my adhd, i don't know to what degree. i'm a hell of a lot spacier than i used to be, though, i can tell you that.

i'm not so sure pot is good for EVERYONE'S brain-- i think it depends on what kind of adhd you have-- certain types might be more suitable for medicinal marijuana than others.

[Ian]

Yup... good to stay sceptical.. thanks clueless
Cheers! Ian.

[Gregster]

I think it is generally beleived, by most researchers - the DEA and Nancy Regan excluded - that schizophrenics are attracted to pot and drugs in general. The fact that a large percentage of schizophrenics smoke pot does not mean that pot smokers are schizophrenics or that pot causes schizophrenia. Some of the smartest, most well grounded people I know are pot smokers - and there are some screwed up ones as well - but no-one has schizophrenia - and if pot caused it, then at least one of us would have it by now, I can assure you! Pot doesn't have an effect on dopamine - which schizophrenics have too much of - it hits very specific canabidanoid (sp??) receptors in the brain - I don't think there is another drug that we know of that works the same way as pot or THC.
It's also very safe - if you don't count the effects of smoke - you literally can't overdose - you'd choke to death trying before you smoked/ate enough of the psychoactive drugs to kill you.
Of course everything in moderation - abuse of anything is not a heathy life-style choice.
I find grass helps my anxiety and calms my "gut" down a fair bit - I suffer from IBS and pot helps me with it. I actually find the anti-spasmodics I take for IBS attacks are more mentally disableing than grass, and far less pleasant - they put into a bit of a stupor - all you do is sleep.
I think the pot is not good for my ADHD, but I'm honestly not certain about that - it makes me more complacent than I am naturally - but I found antidepressants did the same thing. I don't really have a lot of other bad habits, so I don't feel very guilty about the pot smoking.
My $.02 worth.
Regards,
Greg