March 14, 2017
Medical marijuana and autism spectrum disorder. Two terms I never anticipated putting together in the same sentence. Until recently, that is. Seems that a discussion has been going on across the nation and it has come closer to home in this last school year. Not long ago I was asked by a couple of well intentioned parents as to what I thought about the use of marijuana for children who present extreme behaviors. It wasn’t the first time that the question had come up – it just took me awhile to get past the preconceptions I had related to this particular drug and the people who use it – once I did, I decided to do some research and wanted to share that info.
Research in the area is almost non-existent. Look at this article from AUTISM SPEAKS and you may come away thinking that there could be potential with this treatment and there isn’t much research going on. Here’s another from Forbes. Treatment usually centers around the use of just one of the active ingredients found in marijuana and hemp – CBD. Treatment usually involves the use of hemp oil or marijuana used in an edible form. Some of the individual cases that are popping up more and more show marked success in some cases. Bottom line? This is an area that merits further study in my humble opinion.
Here are some of the well publicized cases: