Marijuana and ADHD: part deux

I will begin this post by reminding you that I am not a medical professional. Just kidding, I totally am. Okay, I’m not. Can’t you tell from my poor sentence structure and lack of long words? uhkay.  I am also not the speech and debate type: I will not be attaching a ton of articles to persuade or discredit a different opinion on this subject. I will be telling you my first hand experience. 

I used marijuana recreationally and medically daily, for over a decade. Post legalization in California, it was prescribed to me by a medical doctor for various and legitimate reasons. Some say “pffft. OH really? the weed doctor gave it to you for your hurt eyelash?” Well the joke’s on YOU, buddy. Weed isn’t generally over-prescribed for bogus reasons, it’s just that weed actually HELPS EVERYTHING. I was prescribed medical marijuana primarily for migraines and severe pms/menstrual cramps. (Marijuana is a fantastic and less damaging alternative than taking Imitrex for migraines and birth control for pms.) I also (unknowingly) used cannabis for my ADHD symptoms. Before I go any further on that, I will backup a bit in this story to my early days and when i started to court weed:

I grew up in a safe and affluent Orange County neighborhood. I had 2 great parents. I was lucky to attend a great public school. I went to church as a kid, and joined a youth group in jr high. Overall, I was a pretty good nerdy kid. My “rebellion” in high school was becoming active in feminism and progressive politics. I listened to punk music and met with my riot grrrl friends weekly (for fun) to discuss the dangers of tampons, talk about bands, and how we would fight white corporate male oppression. There was no drinkin, partyin or “bad” stuff. I was pretty well behaved, besides being an impulsive know-it-all teenager.

At 18, I moved from southern California to San Francisco. I was free from the squares of Orange County! hooray! I loved San Francisco. Surprisingly, this is not where my stoner-era started. After 6 months of struggling in community college and excelling in volunteered political activism, I left the bay area and followed a couple friends in the great migration to Olympia, Washington. Olympia is gorgeous sleepy town on the Puget Sound, south of Seattle. It’s an artistic and liberally progressive haven for punk/indie rock musicians, hippies and artists of all kind. I was able to live in this very special place for a few years during a major shift and bloom in art and music for the northwest. Those years were bridging the lasts of the nirvana era with the growing riot grrrl/”indie” movement, which resulted in a really creative, inspiring, and politically progressive scene for musicians, artists and activists. I was in heaven. It was affordable, fun, magically beautiful and an inspiring time in my life that I now refer to as: my glory days.

I first started smoking pot in a huge old house that my friends and I rented in Olympia. We lovingly named it, “the haunch house”. We would get stoned, wear wigs, improve/riff, laugh our butts off, make silly home movies and art, go thrifting for silly wild costumes and have endless conversations about life as we knew it. Smoking pot was something I knew I liked right off the bat, and I really believe it was because I was in a good and healthy environment, around close/funny friends, and smoking really good weed. It wasn’t a bag of brick weed laced with downey fabric softener that we bought off some creep. It was some homegrown perfected-recipe golden chronic. For reals.   

Marijuana unexpectedly changed my entire life for the better. I realized very quickly that I also really enjoyed getting stoned on my own, because I became incredibly productive, nurtured my creativity, and I could focus on something for an extended period of time. It was through this awakening that I felt “normal” for the first time in my life. Of course at the beginning of becoming a stoner I initially got the giggles, said hilarious but dumb shit and over explained myself in a dazed and confused voice. After time I adjusted to being stoned, and I couldn’t believe how less anxious I was. I was hungry and ate healthy. I saw everything in a different light, because I could take time and focus on it. I became happier. I accomplished things. I oozed grace and empathy because I could see things from many different angles without breaking focus. I would spend hours on an art project without distraction. I became patient, thoughtful, less irritable, and comfortable in my own skin. I was able to start and complete something without spending an unreasonable amount of time on it. I became interested in cosmetology- and then stuck with it!!

Marijuana was truly a game changer for my life. I continued smoking pot throughout my twenties. Sometimes recreationally, but the majority of the time it was for the same reasons I now take Adderall. I needed help to function in a way that I could accomplish things that i should and want to. I needed to approach life in a certain way to get things done, and the most efficient way didn’t come naturally to me. It was a struggle to have it be such a huge part of my life before it was legalized. Yet, it was absolutely worth it. Marijuana has a very sad and long history on becoming illegal in America in the 1920s and 30s. Here are my top three favorite documentaries about marijuana. If you don’t know the history of how it became classified as a “drug”, you should watch these:

1. The Union – The business behind getting high

Directed by: Brett Harvey
Released in: 2007
Extra: probably the most complete overview on the industry

2. Clearing the Smoke: The Science of Cannabis

Directed by: Anna Rau
Released in: 2011
Extra: focuses purely on the medicinal benefits instead of the social or political aspects

3. Grass – The history of Marijuana

Directed by: Ron Mann
Released in: 1999
Extra: narrated by actor Woody Harrelson

Now to bring it back to date:

I move to Texas in 2011. Not exactly the best place to live when you like and need the ganja. I knew Austin was a college town, pretty progressive, and obviously full of musicians, but how was this going to work? I was 30, and not wanting to have to “find weed”. It was illegal here. I couldn’t have a license. I didn’t know what strain I was buying. I was broke from the move. I felt like an awkward tween in a new jr high looking for "some tasty nugs". I found new friends that did smoke, and would get some occasionally. It was a pretty rough path until I eventually found someone who would get decent pot. My first couple bags were disgusting, expensive and almost laughable. It became less of a priority, and I reverted back to other ways I coped with my ADHD symptoms pre marijuana, in addition to the ones I picked up on in my 20s. I was doing this not by choice. I then found everything started to change. 

Marijuana had been my main medication for over a decade and now it was not working in all the wonderful ways it had been. When I would finally get some weed, I turned into my initial weed-virgin 18 year old self. Totally ripped. Like, bean bag, captn crunch, uhhhh huh huh- ripped. It was sort of adorable, but also annoying to me.  I would have to call my best friend in the northwest while sitting in a cool bath to laugh and “come down”. She would make fun of me, and I would eventually crack myself up about how stoned I was and watch gilmore girls to snap out of it. I was getting too "stoned" off of ONE bowl! Sometimes even ONE HIT. How could this be? I was 30! I was a seasoned stoner. I was an "all day/everyday" type of lady for so many years. It was how I got things done, I was in a good mood, and how I got motivated, ate good food, and how I cured headaches, cramps/pms, and anxiety. WHAT WAS I GONNA DO?

Here I am in a new state, without my Ganj, living with my boyfriend for the first time in our relationship. I was job hunting and building a clientele, and abruptly about to “cut off my meds” cold turkey, and not out of choice. Obviously discontinuing marijuana use is nothing in comparison to cutting off a stimulant or controlled substance, physically. There is nothing "physically addictive" about it. I'm sure that statement will rile up some medical professionals, but there is an equal amount of "evidence" that could debunk every study they have to prove there is. If there was something "addictive and bad" about weed, trust me, there would be billboards about it. Just like there are for cigarettes and meth. I'm not saying people can't become addicted to being stoned, but that's on them- not the chemical makeup of marijuana. Yes i know that Marijuana meets the criteria established by the American Psychiatric Association, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) for substance dependence. But guess what, that criteria is pretty vague and sort of ridiculous. "ex boyfriends" and watching "law and order" could make that list. Again, for the medical professionals who believe that it is physically addictive, there are equal amounts of medical professionals who will argue that it is not. 
Okay fine, here is one random debunker i found quickly, but there are a million more you can look up yourself:

"THE FACTS:

Essentially all drugs are used in "an addictive fashion" by some people. However, for any drug to be identified as highly addictive, there should be evidence that substantial numbers of users repeatedly fail in their attempts to discontinue use and develop use-patterns that interfere with other life activities.

National epidemiological surveys show that the large majority of people who have had experience with marijuana do not become regular users.

Americans age 12 and over, about 34% had used marijuana sometime in their life, but only 9% had used it in the past year, 4.3% in the past month, and 2.8% in the past week. ⁵⁹A longitudinal study of young adults who had first been surveyed in high school also found a high "discontinuation rate" for marijuana. While 77% had used the drug, 74% of those had not used in the past year and 84% had not used in the past month. ⁶⁰Of course, even people who continue using marijuana for several years or more are not necessarily "addicted" to it. Many regular users - including many daily users - consume marijuana in a way that does not interfere with other life activities, and may in some cases enhance them.

There is only scant evidence that marijuana produces physical dependence and withdrawal in humans.

When human subjects were administered daily oral doses of 180-210 mg of THC - the equivalent of 15-20 joints per day - abrupt cessation produced adverse symptoms, including disturbed sleep, restlessness, nausea, decreased appetite, and sweating. The authors interpreted these symptoms as evidence of physical dependence. However, they noted the syndrome's relatively mild nature and remained skeptical of its occurrence when marijuana is consumed in usual doses and situations. ⁶¹ Indeed, when humans are allowed to control consumption, even high doses are not followed by adverse withdrawal symptoms. ⁶²

Signs of withdrawal have been created in laboratory animals following the administration of very high doses. ⁶³ Recently, at a NIDA-sponsored conference, a researcher described unpublished observations involving rats pretreated with THC and then dosed with a cannabinoid receptor-blocker.⁶⁴ Not surprisingly, this provoked sudden withdrawal, by stripping receptors of the drug. This finding has no relevance to human users who, upon ceasing use, experience a very gradual removal of THC from receptors.

The most avid publicizers of marijuana's addictive nature are treatment providers who, in recent years, have increasingly admitted insured marijuana users to their programs. ⁶⁵ The increasing use of drug-detection technologies in the workplace, schools and elsewhere has also produced a group of marijuana users who identify themselves as "addicts" in order to receive treatment instead of punishment. ^{66 "}

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website source

back to my story:

Having marijuana less and less in my life resulted in the dark ages for me: brain wise. It lasted for around two years, until I made an appointment with a Psychiatrist. Here’s why it took two years: I wasn't "going nuts" because i wasn't smoking weed. I do not like pills. I do not prefer stimulants, and I had been very judgmental since a young age over the western medicine route. I also do not have health insurance. (soon! nov 15th! yay obama). 

So now we are back to the time period of my initial blog entries. I’m ready to see a Doctor, and pay out of pocket for it. I was also ready to at least look into trying medication.

ps: 

Again, Hands down: Marijuana was incredibly effective for me and helped my ADHD symptoms then, as accurately as Adderall does for me now. They both work for me. Both also have potential downfalls if not used responsibly, correctly, or "just because every one's brain is different", when treating ADHD. Ultimately, my experience has been that both can equally change your life for the better, and I am so grateful for both of them and how they have helped me.