Minneapolis St. Paul Mental Health Blog

Mental Health | Cannabis is not a recommended treatment option for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) due to a lack of evidence, according to a scoping review. 

Researchers from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil, and McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, published their findings in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Researchers pulled studies published through June 27, 2022, on the effect of cannabis on ADHD symptomatology and neuropsychiatric outcomes. Sourced from MEDLINE, EMBASE, EMCARE, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and Clinicaltrials.gov, the studies included experimental and observational data. Researchers examined the study population, methods, and key findings for each study.

A total of 39 studies were included, of which 1 had a randomized and placebo-controlled design. This study showed that cannabis had no effect on ADHD. Most other literature included cross-sectional studies that examined ADHD severity and its connection to cannabis use.

Young men with cannabis use disorder are at an increased risk of developing schizophrenia...

...according to a study released this week by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Mental Health Matters | Cannabis not recommended for treatment of ADHD

Cannabis is not a recommended treatment option for patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) due to a lack of evidence, according to a scoping review.

Mental Health | A systematic review and meta-analysis has identified three-fold higher rates of major depression....

....and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) among people with cannabis use disorder.

Mental Health | Cannabis use disorder significantly raises the risk of medication noncompliance ...

Mental and Physical Health | Cannabis use

Mental Health Update | Young adults who started using cannabis regularly before age 18 were more likely to report later sleep troubles, according to a study published online in Sleep.

“People tend to think that cannabis helps with sleep, but if you look closely at the studies, continued or excessive use is also associated with a lot of sleep deficits,” said study lead author Evan Winiger, a graduate student in the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “Our study adds to that literature, showing for the first time that early use is associated with increased rates of insomnia later on.”

Mental Health | A 32-year-old woman with a history of iron-deficiency anemia was brought in by ambulance because of altered mental status. The patient's sister and boyfriend reported that 1 day before presentation, the patient had ingested a marijuana edible and a few hours later developed fatigue and nausea, followed by at least 15 episodes of nonbloody, nonbilious, projectile vomiting throughout the night.

In the morning, she became very pale, her lips turned blue, and she became stiff, losing consciousness for about 10 seconds. Her boyfriend turned her on her side and called 911.

When the patient awoke from this episode, she was combative, confused, and paranoid, speaking incoherently, saying people were out to get her. She became agitated and combative on her way to the emergency department (ED).

Currently, only one cannabis-derived product has been approved by the FDA, yet so much is out there.

According to a recent review published in the journal Current Neuropharmacology, the use of cannabidiol (CBD), the non-intoxicating component of cannabis, has been associated with numerous adverse effects based on available evidence from animal and human studies.

Mental Health note | As more and more use Cannabis, the reality is that results are proving to be more than a positive high.