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U.K. Patients Flock to Medical Cannabis Clinics Due to ADHD Pill Shortage

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Due to a shortage in stimulant-based drugs for ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder), the U.K.’s limited medical cannabis industry is seeing a spike in patients using cannabis for relief as an alternative. The exodus of patients resorting to medical cannabis shows its growing need.

The Guardian reported last September that doctors in England were told not to prescribe ADHD drugs to new patients because of a national shortage. The medications affected include four out of the five top stimulants prescribed to ADHD patients in the U.K.: methylphenidate, lisdexamfetamine, guanfacine,  and atomoxetine.

It’s been compared to the Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine salts) shortage impacting the U.S. U.S. brand-name drug makers behind Adderall, Vyvanse and Concerta are able to keep up with the shortage, but the generic versions of all three drugs are struggling to keep up. Is it time to panic? Even with these shortages in medication, doctors still say ADHD is under-diagnosed and patients are under-prescribed.

Some of them are turning to cannabis. BBC reports that a medical cannabis clinic said the U.K.’s medical cannabis industry had seen an 86% increase in ADHD patients nationally over the last year.

Some people believe cannabis can alleviate many of the symptoms associated with ADHD as research advances.

Medical Cannabis Is Better Than No Medicine

Medical cannabis, when prescribed by a registered specialist doctor, was legalized in the U.K., mostly in the form of oils and flower, in November 2018. Since then, treatments, including medical cannabis, that meet “appropriate standards” have been reclassified under Schedule 2, meaning that they have medical value. And while the U.K. has very limited availability for medical use, exports are another story: the U.K. was the world’s largest exporter of legal cannabis in 2016.

Research director Dr. Simon Erridge, who also works at Curaleaf Clinic, said it was “natural for people to explore other options” amid the shortage.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) told the BBC that while there were no cannabis-based medicines licensed for the treatment of ADHD on the NHS, specialist clinicians “can prescribe cannabis-based products where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients.”

“Other ADHD products remain available but cannot meet excessive increases in demand,” the DHSC alert states. “At present, the supply disruptions are expected to resolve at various dates between October and December 2023.”

Suddenly losing access to a stimulant-based drug that patients rely on leaves them with few options.

“A lot of people with ADHD may try a number of different medications to find the one that works best for them, if that is suddenly taken away by shortages it’s only natural for people to explore other options and there’s no reason why that might not include medical cannabis,” Erridge said.

Cannabis for ADHD

Depending on the person, cannabis can both help and distract people from focusing.

A January 2020 study called “Cannabinoid and Terpenoid Doses are Associated with Adult ADHD Status of Medical Cannabis Patients” arrived at mixed results, finding that whole-plant cannabis seemed to be more effective.

“The use of purified THC:CBD in a 1:1 ratio (nabiximols) showed no effect on ADHD symptom severity; however, in a qualitative study, 25% of responses indicated that whole-plant cannabis was therapeutic for ADHD,” researchers wrote. “Here, we demonstrated an association between higher CBN and lower ADHD symptoms frequency. It has been previously demonstrated that the combination of CBN and THC is associated with increased psycho-activity of THC in humans. This indicates a more complex story than simply stratifying treatment based on THC and CBD alone.”

Researchers acknowledged that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to tackling ADHD when it comes to cannabis. 

“There is no ‘simplistic’ method for tracking only the dominant constituents of cannabis to better understand the medical potential of a cannabis cultivar,” researchers continued. “Thus, the novel perspective of our study is extremely valuable for the [medical cannabis] research field.”

Medical professionals who spoke to High Times for an October 2019 article agreed that ADHD treatments are not one-size-fits-all. Brooke Alpert is a licensed cannabis practitioner and founder of Daily Habit. Alpert touched on the correlation between CBD and ADHD. “The studies that focus on ADHD and CBD have shown some conflicting evidence.” 

She added, “I think more research needs to look at what relief people are finding with cannabis so we can have a better picture of how to further recommend CBD and cannabis for those with ADHD.”

Energizing strains like Sour Diesel, Jack Herer, Green Crack have been reported to actually have calming effects on people living with ADHD, even if they make others jittery.

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New York Governor Calls On Websites To Stop Promoting Unlicensed Weed Shops

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New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Wednesday called on social media companies and popular websites including Google and Yelp to stop running listings for unlicensed cannabis retailers. At a press conference, the governor appeared with licensed dispensary owners, who face stiff competition from the multitude of unlicensed weed retailers in New York City, to call attention to the situation.

“If you type in ‘cannabis dispensaries’ in Google Maps or Yelp, you’ll get a long list of unlicensed illegal vendors,” Hochul said at the press conference on Wednesday.

New York legalized recreational marijuana in 2021, with the state’s first licensed adult-use cannabis retailer opening in the waning days of 2022. But the pace of opening licensed pot retailers in New York has been slow, with regulators citing the complexity of the application and approval process and difficulties securing and renovating appropriate storefronts as some of the causes for the delay. To date, less than 70 licensed weed shops have opened statewide.

The pace of opening newly licensed shops was also hindered by several court cases challenging the state’s process for awarding the first licenses for pot retailers, which were reserved for individuals with prior convictions for marijuana-related offenses. Several injunctions have stalled the awarding of new licenses, although recent settlements have resulted in the opening of 50 additional licensed weed retailers since December, including at least 30 new shops this week.

Efforts To Shutter Unlicensed Weed Shops Unsuccessful

Meanwhile, the number of unlicensed retailers in New York, particularly the Big Apple, has exploded. Estimates by city officials place the number of unlicensed pot shops in New York City at at least 1,300, perhaps as many as 2,000. There are more than 400 such retailers in Manhattan alone, according to a report from The New York Times.

At the press conference on Wednesday, Hochul said that unlicensed shops are a public health risk and a threat to the state’s efforts to create opportunities in the regulated cannabis industry for those harmed by decades of marijuana prohibition. The governor also acknowledged that efforts to close down the unlicensed shops with raids and fines have been too limited and so far have been unsuccessful.

“More and more cash keeps going in their doors and not the doors of our legitimate operators — and that’s what needs to change,” Hochul said.

Hochul has a proposal pending before state lawmakers that would make it easier for the state Office of Cannabis Management to obtain orders to padlock unlicensed cannabis businesses. The orders would also be enforceable by local agencies with more personnel available to execute them. 

While the proliferation of unlicensed pot retailers in New York continues, Hochul on Wednesday asked social media and tech companies “to not be posting the sites that are illegal and ensure that they’re posting the legal shops.”

The sheer number of unlicensed cannabis shops appearing on websites and social media makes reaching new customers difficult for licensed operators, who face restrictions on how they can promote their businesses. Osbert Orduña has two licensed cannabis shops, one in the New York City borough of Queens and the other in New Jersey. 

Orduña said that Google Maps has repeatedly removed listings for his shops. He has not run into any trouble with Yelp, although he said he agrees with Hochul and would like to see the website delist unlicensed retailers.

“Four times, Google has taken us down off of their platform for ‘violating their terms of service.’ We’ve done nothing other than have our store hours and our basic business information listed,” he said.

Tech Companies React

In a statement, consumer reviews website Yelp said that “consumers have a First Amendment right to read and write about all businesses, even if unlicensed,” according to a report from the Associated Press.

“Allowing users to contribute and see information … about unlicensed businesses serves the public interest and provides a resource for regulators to determine whether any particular business has appropriate licenses,” the statement read.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has previously said in a statement that its social media sites “prohibit content in both ads and organic pages that promotes the buying and selling of drugs including marijuana,” ABC 7 New York reported on Wednesday.

Google also responded to Hochul’s call to eliminate listings for unlicensed cannabis retailers, saying the company bans weed ads in New York and would remove listings for unlicensed shops once they have been closed by regulators.

“If we can confirm that a business has closed for any reason – including license issues – we’ll reflect that it’s closed in the listing,” the statement reads. “We also prohibit cannabis ads in New York and remove them upon detection, often before they ever run.”

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