Submitted by Enisbel on 03/07/2012.
My partner seems to think and feels that pot is the only thing that will help him relax at night and does not want to take any meds. Can anyone advise on the risks of an ADD smoking pot once a day? I am really worried about it and when talked to him to suggest that he gets medication instead he says that the medication is worse for his health?
pot smoking and ADHD
Submitted by 3kids on
I am surprised that no one replied to your post.... my DH is non-diagnosed at this point, but we are both sure he has ADHD. He has smoked pot for years (I knew he did, once in a while, but was unaware that he was doing it again until recently, which is what led me to insist he get evaluated).
In my process of researching, I read that smoking pot is a common way to self-medicate for pwADHD. I was told on one forum that it might help with anxiety but is not good for the brain; that meds are more efficient and are also legal, by the way. Even though we live in CA where you can pretty easily get medical mj, I was upset that he was using pot. I felt he was weak; he felt it was the only way he could get through the day without going crazy since it helped him slow down.
When he called Kaiser, our HMO, about an evaluation, the person he talked to assumed he was using pot - asked him how long he'd been using it, not *if*. I found this interesting and informative. The tough part is that he has to have it out of his system before they will evaluate him. So far, 2 weeks in, he has stopped but the temper issues and irritability have returned (I thought he had just mellowed out, didn't realize he was using pot to get rid of these symptoms).
Sorry I can't give you more specifics about why this is bad for you, for me it's more emotional and, until I did more research, I saw it as a weakness on his part. And frankly, I worried about his using pot because I teach at a private school and him getting caught could affect my unemployment. And I didn't want our grown children to know he was using it, either. So shallow as it may seem, I was more worried about me when I found out. But I did not tell him that - when I talked to him I referenced the commonness of self-medication and that my research said the meds are more effective. Good luck with this issue.