Autism and Medical Marijuana

Some families have found marijuana (mmj) to be nothing short of miraculous. Some of the symptoms MMJ has ameliorated include anxiety--even severe anxiety--aggression, panic disorder, generalized rage, tantrums, property destruction and self-injurious behavior.

One mother's comments:

"I know it's not the end all answer but it's been the best answer for the longest time for us in regards to ALL the other medications. I cannot tell you how many months we would go on a medication wondering if it was doing anything, anything at all. Here we can see the difference in 30-60 minutes guaranteed."

Another:

"My son (who is almost nine years of age) has been on medications to address his severe autistic behaviors including aggression and throwing fits over trivial issues in the environment. He has been difficult to instruct due to these behaviors. None of the medications has ever made a difference, except for making his behaviors worse. He has been through the whole range starting at three and a half with ritalin and dexedrine, and going through prozac, paxil, clonidine, naltrexone, adderall and risperdal. Finally, we gave up on medications and decided to manage his behaviors through behavioral techniques. We had mixed results.

A few months ago we tried the prescription drug Marinol and noticed a drop in the severe episodes, no fits and little to no aggression towards his teacher and family members on a daily basis. A few weeks ago we started him on cannabis and stopped the Marinol. He has been in a much better mood and is much easier to keep on task in the classroom now. There has not been a major fit since he started the Marinol, and the cannabis seems to work just as well with his behaviors and he is now much more easier for his therapists to manage during instruction.

It is not a cure, but just a tool to make things go smoother and prevent disruptions in his learning. He still has days when he gets angry and moody, but we can adjust the dose to help him through those days. It is such a mild medication and there are no long term side effects that can damage the body's organs. I feel much more comfortable administering cannabis) than something like risperdal.

Autism is an unpredictable disorder and even though major behaviors are constants, autistic people have different degrees of their behaviors from day to day. We can tell when he might need an extra dose to get him through a rough day, and due to the fact that there is no toxic overdose, we do not have to be overly concerned with safety issues."

--From a less stressed out mom

Some relevant stories:
MMJ for an 8 Year Old
Marihuana and Behavior Disorder of Uncertain Origin

So, you want to consider giving medical marijuana to your autistic son/daughter?

First question, is this legal in your state?
If mmj is legal, do you need a doctor's permission or "recommendation"?
A prescription for mmj is illegal, according to federal law.
It may be difficult to get your MD to write a letter or even sign a form for you stating that your child may benefit from medical marijuana. Even if your MD is willing to help you, he or she may want you to try a few pharmaceuticals first, although it is most likely that you already have given these the old college try, and have seen only limited improvement, if any at all. If you can't find a doctor willing to help, local AIDS awareness and advocacy groups may be able to recommend one. That this is for pediatric use is problematic, especially for a child with a disability. If your child has any co-morbid conditions or a seizure disorder, a physician's help is critical.

If you still want to try MMJ, the next step is finding a supply--and a supplier. Just because you used marijuana back in college doesn't guarantee that you will be able to scare up a dealer for your child's medical needs. Buying marijuana on the black market is expensive, dangerous and nerve-wracking. Any medicine you buy is also apt to be tainted. If it smells suspiciously like Raid, chances are excellent that you have scored a pricey version of this trusty bug killer.. If you are fortunate enough to live in a state with compassion clubs, then your problem may be solved. Some states allow limited cultivation.

Next issue, how will this medicine be delivered to your child? Probably an autistic child will not be smoking. There are several viable methods of delivery, tinctures, elixirs, baked goods, cannabutter and cannaoil). Cannaoil may be particularly useful if your child is gf/cf. Any recipe may be adapted using 2/3 oil for the amount of solid fat in the recipe.

Medical information:
GW Pharmaceuticals UK
well known Jamaican study

Useful sites:
State-by-State Medical Marijuana Laws
The American Alliance for Medical Cannabis
Marihuana The Forbidden Medicine, Lester Grinspoon M.D.
The Emperor Wears No Clothes, Jack Herer
Medical Marijuana Research
The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
An Ethnographic Study

Kaneh bosm! The Tree of Life!!!

marijuana helps treat ADHD, PTSD, depression, schizophrenia (?), autism, helps some muscular disorders, the list goes on and on and on.

too bad for those of us adults whom it helps can't smoke it because of drug tests fore pre-employment. and "random" drug tests while employed. unless you work for one of those "hippy" startup internet companies where they take bong hits during meetings.

guess you'll just have to stick to being an alcoholic instead. gotta love corporate america!

veterans get discounts for med MJ in california... they even do research on PTSD victims with it. but yet again, if you work a corporate job, can't smoke it. and the VA still considers MJ an intoxicating substance and won't give you treatment if you're actively using it.

AB390 goes into committee next Tuesday, hopefully when the state accepts it as legal corporations will as well. Not so sure about the VA though.

So, white people with university degrees consume more of these additives?

It's amazing that there can be an article that deals with related topics on this issue and yet the reader will still regress to something else, like food/vaccines.

The main contributor: KIDS WITH AUTISM IN THESE AREAS HAD PARENTS THAT WERE MORE EDUCATED AND MORE LIKELY TO HAVE THEM DIAGNOSED AS ON THE SPECTRUM!

Apparently, the best prevention is less education. Chuckle. That is, if you believe that genetics play no role in intelligence, and educational ability is completely socialized.

White, educated people with good incomes have great medical insurance. They probably believe the more health care the better. I believe its very possible that early and excessive sonograms can harm the fetus. It's child abuse before the child is born. Sound waves can be used as a weapon.

Some parents have genetically-determined behavior that pre-disposes them to success in a university environment. Let's not forget that males are affected by autism at a ratio of about 10:1 to females.

Exactly. I'm reading this and thinking "what else are highly educated people likely to do? How about prenatal care (which usually includes having vaccines pushed) and never, ever missing a well baby check?"

They've been phasing Thiomersal out of vaccines for years yet autism rates continue to go up.

They've been phasing Thiomersal out of vaccines for years yet autism rates continue to go up.

Don't feed the trolls, they will become dependant.

Yes, thimerisol has been phased out, but there are vaccines that still have it. And there is plenty of other junk in vaccines that may affect certain individuals. I'm not against vaccines, but I am against the ridiculous schedule of injecting so much into so little bodies at one time. For my third, we have spaced out the vax schedule.

Autism is thought to be an extreme of behavior rather than a specific disorder. Consider in-vitro fertilization to be the method for older, smart women that gambled and let their natural reproductive abilities expire. Such technologies allow certain genes to concentrate and allow for brain evolution.

Without the near-autistic types that are able to concentrate on single tasks or gather specialities, humans would probably still be without fire and language. Be careful in condemnations of behavior that we do not understand.

A good reason for that is that blacks are only %12 of the population while Asians are only 3%. The incidence in racial minority groups is more difficult to measure due to the sample size, but I saw a number of Asian player-pianos and memorization specialists in my day.

Having worked as a mental health professional with pre-adolescent males, I have seen both, your assumption is invalid.

One theory is that it is not a condition but merely an extreme of male behavior.

They are also the group of people more likely to drive a Saab, drink Merlot and munch at the fromage bar, take birth control, listen to NPR and Mozart. Wait, that's it. Children exposed to NPR while in the womb have a greater chance of being autistic.

Though, you need an explanation why autism strikes males ten times as much as females.

I read recently that while invitro boys have a more sensitive central nervous system than girls. Research was being conducted to rule if that was the reason more boys have autism than girls

I'd love to see your source showing that "all vaccines are initially made with thimerosol"

Here's a table showing thiomersal content in several vaccines

http://www.vaccinesafety.edu/thi-table-09-1019.pdf

The largest dose of thimerosal in any of those vaccines is 25 mcg. Thimerosol is 49% mercury by weight, so that's 12.25 grams of mercury per dose. According to the FDA tuna averages between 330 and 760 mcg of mercury per kilogram. In a 6 ounce can that's between 56 and 129 mcg. During the first 12 years a child may recieve as many as 40 vaccines. Even if they all contained the maximum 25 mcg, which they don't, it would be equivalent to eating 4 to 9 cans of tuna.

Yes, but is it adjuvant free tuna?

The vaccine is not unsafe, but you would have less mercury in your blood if you consumed it orally, although you would have probably wasted a dose of the vaccine. The mercury in tuna is actually far worse for you as it tends to come in methylmercury. Methylmercury is a smaller molecule, it easily crosses the blood brain barrier and accumulates in tissues. Thimerosol decomposes into ethylmercury which leaves the body in a relatively short time, and it tends to not cross the blood brain barrier.

Not sure how, but according to this study, an oral dose of methylmercury leads to a higher concentration in the tissue than an intramuscular dose. They only tried an IM dose of thimerosol, but it resulted in much lower mercury levels compared to methylmercury.

That would be a good comparison study. One group eats it. One group injects it. Probably works the same in the field, except one is safer.

I meant the vaccine. whether it has mercury or not.

That study appears to be done to combat the comparison of different types of mercury by people who were worried about thimersol being injected. The reasoning was: the government says don't eat mercury but it's okay to inject mercury. That study and timing appears to have been done to "clear" that "confusion" up.

Yeah let's not worry what causes it. That would help us better understand what treatments could prevent or cure autism. We should apply that rationale to other diseases like cancer and ms. I'm glad you're not my autistic son's mother.