Finding products that are going to work well for people not only during an entire day, but across their lifespan is very important.

Internet chat rooms are exploding with people talking about cannabis to treat their ADHD, but does it really work? I’m Doctor Mary Clifton. I’m an internal medicine doctor practicing in Manhattan, New York and I thought I would never have to treat ADHD. I mean, it’s a diagnosis of childhood.

There’s the issue with being able to pay attention, but then there’s also the issue of being able to sit still. It affects people over their course of their entire lifetime, in most cases. And it affects people over the course of their entire day. It not only impacts work and school outcomes, but it also impacts relationship outcomes at home. Finding products that are going to work well for people not only during an entire day, but across their lifespan is very important.

I’m going to share with you a study that holds great promise for how cannabis might be helpful in managing the impulsivity component of ADHD. This study looked at cannabis users compared to healthy controls. They used a PET scanner, which is the functional MRI, the MRI that makes the brain light up or cool off in various locations depending on input. They found that the people treated with methylphenidate, which is one of the stimulants that’s used currently to treat ADHD and the people treated with cannabis had the same changes in metabolism in the cerebellum. Both stimulants that are currently used frequently to manage ADHD and cannabis, affect the movement centers of the brain the same way when they’re studied with a functional MRI.

If you’re dealing with impulsivity with difficultly sitting still, you may find that cannabis is going to give you a pretty similar outcome to methylphenidate, at least based on this one small study. Further studies are needed. Additional recommendations for managing ADHD in children can’t be made at this time because we don’t have much information about the way things work in an adolescent brain exposed to cannabis, There may be some promise for some treatments or maybe some distillations of cannabis in the future. The pharmacology companies are certainly paying attention.

In a bid to highlight the country’s foray into legal medical marijuana, Thailand will host the inaugural World Ganja Festival early next year. The event is being organized by the Association of Researchers of Thailand with cooperation from the national and local governments.

“We’re the main host. Thailand’s the main host. We’re deciding who we will invite to the Ganja Festival,” said the World Ganja Festival’s Honorary Advisor, Gen. Charan Kullawanit. “There will be Chinese, Japanese and American guests. They once opposed the idea.”

“We’ll invite them so we can listen to their academic ideas, presentations, and statements,” he added. “We’ll see how the event will benefit the global community.”

The Association of Researchers of Thailand announced that the group had signed agreements to hold the first World Ganja Festival next year from January 29 through February 2 with the Thai Nationalism Foundation, the Journalist and Media Association of Thailand, and provincial administrative organizations of Nakhon Phanom, Sakon Nakhon, and Mukdahan. The event will be held at a 40-acre venue near the Nong Yat Reservoir in Nakhon Phanom province.

Sharing Knowledge About Cannabis

The World Ganja Festival 2020 will serve as a platform for the sharing of knowledge about the medicinal uses of cannabis, according to Gen. Kullawanit. The event will include educational seminars, information about technological innovations, and opportunities for business negotiations. A music festival and product design competition will also be featured.

Organizers of the festival hope the event will help create new opportunities for Thailand, the first country in the region to legalize medical marijuana. They also hope to provide a better understanding of cannabis and the legal issues pertaining to its cultivation and use.

Thailand legalized cannabis for medicinal use and for research last year, a move that was affirmed by royal decree in February. The government is looking to legalization as a way to benefit the Thai people both medically and by providing new economic and agricultural opportunities for the country.

Thailand has a tradition of cannabis use to relax muscles and for the treatment of fatigue and labor pains that goes back centuries. In August, the Thai government began distributing 10,000 vials of medical cannabis oil to hospitals to be used for patient care.

California will ban smoking on state parks and beaches starting next year under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The law also bans disposing cigar and cigarette waste at parks and beaches. Violations of the law will be punishable by a fine of up to $25. Newsom, a Democrat, announced Friday he had signed the bill into law.

It covers smoking traditional cigarettes as well as using electric smoking devices. Smoking will still be allowed in parking lots at beaches and parks. Film and television productions can still allow people to smoke on state property with the proper permits.

Democratic state Sen. Steve Glazer has been pushing such a ban for years, with lawmakers approving it several times. But former Gov. Jerry Brown, a fellow Democrat, repeatedly vetoed it.

“We have many rules telling us what we can and can’t do and these are wide open spaces,” he wrote last year.

Glazer has argued such a rule will protect public health and curtail pollution.

California already prohibits smoking at child care centers, within 25 feet (7.6 meters) of farmers’ markets, in government buildings and on public transportation. Cities and counties can also adopt their own smoking laws.

California has roughly 280 state parks and 340 miles (547 kilometers) of coastline.

A legislative analysis predicts it will cost the state parks system nearly $2 million to put up more than 5,000 signs alerting people to the ban and complying with various state regulations.

The law is supported by many medical and environmental groups as well the cities of Huntington Beach and Santa Monica. Many Republicans in the Legislature voted against the measure.

Oregon regulators enacted a six-month ban Friday on the sale of flavored nicotine and cannabis vape products in stores and online statewide amid an outbreak of illnesses that has sickened nearly 1,300 people nationwide and killed 26, including two people in Oregon.

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission, which regulates the recreational marijuana market, voted unanimously to approve the temporary sales ban on the same day that the Oregon Health Authority, which regulates tobacco sales statewide, filed the ban with the Oregon Secretary of State.

Dozens of marijuana processors and vape manufacturers packed the commission room during the vote and some shouted out in frustration during a news conference when an official said the ban would only affect 10 percent of the cannabis vape market.

“It’s going to kill immediately 70% of my company’s revenue. It’s based off of what we consider faulty logic and faulty understanding” of the science behind adding flavor to marijuana vape pens, Jason Thompson, the sales director for Eugene, Oregon-based Sublime Solutions, said after the vote.

The ban applies to all nicotine and cannabis vapes that contain flavoring derived from anything except pure marijuana terpenes. Terpenes are organic compounds that give plants and fruits their flavor or scent — for example, the citrusy smell from an orange or the aroma of lavender. Vape pen manufacturers add natural and artificial terpene mixes to nicotine- or cannabis-containing oil to give the products popular flavors, from cherry to mint to candy cane.

Earlier this month Gov. Kate Brown ordered the temporary ban. Several other states, including Washington, New York Rhode Island and Michigan, have also imposed temporary bans.

The illnesses first appeared in March, with symptoms including shortness of breath, fatigue and chest pain.

Federal investigators say that nearly 80 percent of people who have come down with the vaping illness reported using products containing THC, the high-inducing chemical found in marijuana. They have not traced the problem to any single product or ingredient. But investigators are increasingly focused on thickeners and additives found in illegal THC cartridges sold on the black market.

The Oregon Health Authority, which is investigating nine cases of illness in Oregon and two deaths, had asked Brown for broader six-month ban on sale and display of all vaping products, including tobacco, nicotine and cannabis. The agency also urged Oregonians to stop using all vaping products until federal and state officials have determined the cause of the illnesses.

TJ Sheehy, manager of the OLCC’s marijuana technical unit, told commissioners before Friday’s vote that vape brands that contain flavor compounds are “completely unknown black boxes in terms of their contents” and that consumers have to “take on faith” their safety.

Oregon regulators test the marijuana oil in the vape devices for solvents and pesticides before the terpenes are added, but the companies that make the terpenes are outside the state regulatory system and the pens aren’t tested after the flavoring is added, he explained. Nicotine-only vape pens undergo even less scrutiny, officials said.

“Quite frankly, no one buying these things knows what’s in them,” Sheehy said, adding later that many contain so-called “fillers” that are dangerous to inhale.

The ban goes into effect Tuesday and lasts until April 11.

Disgruntled and worried marijuana entrepreneurs milled in the hallway after the vote and said the sales ban would crush their businesses.

Joe Bergen, general manager for two companies, Avitas Oregon and Hellavated, said his sales have already dropped because of the scare over lung illnesses and he’s had to reduce his workforce by nearly 20%.

Hellavated makes flavored marijuana vapes, while Avitas only makes vaping devices containing pure marijuana.

Hellavated will be “heavily impacted” by the new ban, he said, and it’s unclear if the OLCC’s move will help because the cause of the illnesses hasn’t been determined.

“One of the things this crisis has illuminated is that there is no long-term research on vaping and cannabis consumption, period,” Bergen said. “There needs to be more research into both those things.”