Kid's got autism? Get 'em high!

[HuckleB]

http://scienceblogs.com/whitecoatunderground/2009/11/kids_got_autism_get_em_high.php

"...

But it's not the mom's poor judgment that upsets me the most---it's her report that she found a doctor willing to help her. There are no studies to support the use of cannabis to treat the symptoms of autism, and given the potential harm of exposing an already neurologically-impaired child unknown doses of a powerfully psychoactive substance, this could be easily construed as child abuse. Additionally, any doctor who would recommend the use of cannabis on an autistic child would find little sympathy from me if he were hauled up in front of a medical board or better yet, a judge. The only reason this is any better than the case of the religious wackos who prayed while they watched their daughter die of diabetes is that its unlikely that pot will kill the child. But imagine being autistic, being unable to separate out various stimuli and communicate effectively, and then suddenly finding yourself feeling strange, not knowing why, perhaps even suffering from a severe anxiety reaction, not uncommon with acute cannabis intoxication. That's not death, but it is torture."

--------------------


I yi yi.

[madrchsod]

1. what a lame opinion piece from "palmd"

oh well everyone is entitled to their opinion

[HuckleB]

2. Well, that's a very lame response to the opinion piece.

If you're going to bother calling something lame, perhaps you could counter his points.

[MannyGoldstein]

3. Until you've walked a mile in their shoes

Doesn't seem like a great idea to me, but compared to the other shit people do in this situation, it's not so awful.

[HuckleB]

4. Oh, I get the family going there.

I don't get the doc going there, however.

[Chemisse]

13. Yeah, that is quite surprising. nt

[madrchsod]

9. my wife works with autistic adults

a lot of autistic adults take daily amounts of of pharma drugs that would put you or i to sleep for days. cannabis could`t be any worse than the pharma drugs that really screw up their insides.

[madrchsod]

5. here`s a few

he assumes he knows what goes on inside the mind of an autistic child.

he assumes there would be a negative effect on a child

he assumes that cannabis has no medical value in dealing neurological impairment

he assumes that a doctor would not monitor the child during the medication

he assumes that cannabis can not be given in controlled doses


sorry i can not imagine being autistic and nether can he. it seems he has a problem with the use of cannabis because there are no studies..but he offers only arrest and jailing of anyone who would conduct cannabis trials. so his solution would be use the continued use powerful psychoactive pharma drugs that do the same thing at a much higher cost with or without results.

[HuckleB]

7. Really?

"He offers only arrest and jailing of anyone who would conduct cannabis trials. so his solution would be use the continued use powerful psychoactive pharma drugs that do the same thing at a much higher cost with or without results."

I don't think that's what he's saying at all. Did you read any of the links in this short piece, or did you just make a bunch of assumptions?

[madrchsod]

10. i made the mistake of not reading the links

the first one is very interesting and have read another case where the woman`s child responded using pot tea.

my friend has spent a over a hundred thousand on quacks and she refuses to even consider pharma drugs to control her 6 yr old who has violent outbursts around his younger brother and sister.

my wife works with adult autistic on a daily basis.

i should have known better.

[RainDog]

6. this is an interesting case, in view of the use of anti-convulsants, SSRIs and other powerful drugs

that are given to children in this society all the time.

here's the article in question - the mother gave the child medical marijuana in brownies when his weight was drastically low. I suppose she could have put him in the hospital and fed him through tubes if he continued to lose weight/not eat.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AutismNews/mother-son-marijuana-treat-autism/story?id=9153881&page=1

I think the issue is whether or not cannabis is a viable medicine. While the Dr. in the article linked above talks about sensory integration or lack of, he doesn't know if this is the case and, from the interview with Diane Sawyer, the child has improved since he's been using cannabis as a medical treatment for symptoms.

Doctors routinely "guess" about the effect of a medication to treat children with anti-consulsants and SSRIs. Parents routinely give their children medicines that have dangerous possible side effects. Some of these medicines have not been used for generations and people don't know the outcome for their children if they use these drugs.

The issue was about the child's weight loss - that's what led the mother (who doesn't use marijuana at all) to seek out a way to get her child to have an appetite. Then his behavior and functioning in the world improved in other ways. This is what happens when a Dr. gives a child an SSRI or anti-convulsant, too. They observe the behavior and see if the medicine has improved the symptoms that were causing a problem for someone's functioning.

It is sort of like propaganda to post this blurb without the context. This post makes it sound like some stoner mom got her kid high, dude. That's not the case at all, at least as the story appears on ABC.

[HuckleB]

8. Indeed.

And the article can be linked from the blog piece.

The child appears to have had some positive changes. But there are questions about the long term, in my mind. Do the benefits come at a cost of long-term development? Anyway, in my opinion, much more oversight is needed.

[RainDog]

18. the same could be said for SSRIs, etc. but doctors decided the benefits outweigh the risks

in any case, your post came across as propaganda, which, it seems, was the real point.

[HuckleB]

19. The blog clearly has an opinion.

You can call anything you want propaganda, but that type of labeling is what I consider propaganda.

[RainDog]

20. LOL

okay.

[Celebration]

11. wow, a good outcome in this case

It sounds like a last ditch attempt to save a kid's life, and it WORKED. Kudos to that doc.

A doctor should be willing to try something like this when all else fails.

[Chemisse]

12. Are there any studies at all about cannibus and autism?

Don't you mean there are no studies at all? If people are thinking this might help, perhaps there should be some.

Any port in a storm.

[Celebration]

14. the help was for the loss of appetite, not the autism

There are plenty of studies on pot with loss of appetite, with things like cancer treatment.

But, maybe there should be studies on pot with autism. I haven't even heard conjectures about pot helping autism. But, maybe so. Possibly it helps only with autistic kids that are severely underweight.

Could be there should be some studies with anorexia nervosa as well.

[Celebration]

15. here are a few anecdotes about cannibus and eating disorders

http://www.medicalmarijuanablog.com/benefits/anorexia.html

Here is one story. One would have to be pretty careful with this, I'm sure.

I’ve had issues with bulimia since I was about 14. My parents hospitalized me and had me see a bunch of different therapists and nutritionists but none of it helped. I’d go through times when I didn’t eat, and I’d be happy then. But the second that I did eat it turned into a binge and I hated myself. It even got so bad at one point that I tried to kill myself for eating a bagel. After eating I’d always vomit or take laxatives or exercise. Literally all of my thoughts were controlled by my eating disorder… they pretty much ranged from ‘i’m fat’ to ‘how can i get skinny?’ That was all that I saw in life: calories, fat, and bones. I was completely withdrawn from others because all I cared about was my weight. I felt unlovable, so I wouldn’t let anyone get too close to me emotionally. It was seriously like hell.

This past summer around my 18th birthday I started to smoke marijuana. It really opened my eyes and mind. I started seeing more in life than just fat and skinny. I learned SO MUCH about myself! I realized I actually had a personality that I LOVED, and that there are so many great things in this world that I’d rather focus on than my weight. I began to really love myself and open up to others. I realized how happy I was and how happy I made everyone around me! I didn’t have to think about eating anymore, it just happened haha. I’d eat when I was hungry or had the munchies, and that was that. I didn’t worry if I gained a pound. There are more serious issues on this planet. My eating disorder was out of the picture and I was happy, optimistic, confident, genuine, loving, and so many other great things.

For the past three months though I haven’t smoked, and I’ve noticed that my old eating disorder tendencies are creeping back on me again. I haven’t smoked because I wanted to see whether the change I had experienced in my life really was because of cannabis. It definitely was, and I find that amazing. I’m a big supporter of medical marijuana and know that someday it will be legal. After all, “pot is proof that mother nature wants us to be happy”.

PEACE&&LOVE TO ALL

[SidDithers]

16. Mercury levels in Cannabis leaf and seed...

leaf ~ 19 ug/g = 19 ppm
seed ~ 6 ug/g = 6 ppm

http://scialert.net/pdfs/pjn/2005/349-351.pdf

Just throwin' that out there for the thimerosal crowd.

Sid

[semillama]

17. Now, now.

Don't you realize that THC counteracts the effects of mercury toxicity?

[conscious evolution]

21. Good thing people don't smoke the leaves or the seeds

In case you didn't know the flower is what people use.
Not a very representative study,imo.It only tested sativa grown in the Nigerdelta area of Nigeria.Did not study sativa at all.
Did you notice the part of that study that said the ground where the sativa was grown was heavily contaminated from pollutants from the petroleum industry?