Is weed really good for autism????

[Mupett]

So we have all seen the videos of kids and adults using cannabis in one form or another to deal with autism etc and I for one was convinced it would help my soni thought this it it the holy grail as I have and do see a lot of positives.BUT AND HERE IS THE BUT...I have first hand seen my sons dad who isn't diagnosed but deff has either and/or aspbergers schizophrenia we are not together anymore but he smoked A LOT of dope and all I saw was him having psychotic outbreaks and also a friend from college days had aspbergers and shee took drugs and all I saw was her having breakdowns etc and then another friend of mine she has aspberegrs and she smokes weed constantly and all I ever here from her is one psychotic or deluded breakdown after the other...so I'm really torn about how I feel about weed to help autism.. any thoughts? I could be missing the fact that there is a difference between weed on the street and the weed that is formulated into something different ie am talking about the legal stuff in country's where the have actual qualified doctors and its some type of oil etc..I mean maybe there is something in the processing of it and it is complicated as there are proffessors working on It Israel etc.

I can't comment on weed helping autism but I see the negative effects of cannabis usage on mental health on a daily basis. Low mood, depression and anxiety, psychosis and low motivation and lethargy. It is not a harmless drug.

Does any1 have first hand experience ? Trying to ascertain if there us difference between weed of the street or weed you'd get from a qualified doctor who uses weed to medicate etc..as a side note I saw a camp somewhere in America where they use cannabis to treat alcohol addiction.

Yes I can easily see that being so.Are you a doctor or do you work in mental health? Just curious..thanks

we have all seen the videos of kids and adults using cannabis

It is illegal to give children cannabis in most countries, very much so in the countries of the UK.

I hope that helps.

I lived with a grown man who had used cannabis as a teenager..
It wasn't pleasant..
And neither was he...

Am aware of its legality in some and not other countries..I am referring more to the actual groundbreaking good it has and is doing ie it is seriously being studied in Israel as a possible cure for cancer AND it has even been successful to treat alcohol addiction which is a massive problem in the UK. So don't misunderstand .. I can see the pros and cons

My DP is undiagnosed ASD and most likely ADHD to boot. 4 of his old school friends have recently gone through ASD and ADHD assessments in their 40s and all have had the diagnoses confirmed. They have all used cannabis since their teens to balance themselves out and cope with social anxiety. All very high functioning adults with great jobs and lovely families, but cannabis use will always be in their lives. I guess for them it helped.

Hi, Asperger's sufferer here. I was on the verge of killing myself just before the 3rd year of uni. Horrifically lonely, terrified of the future, failing academically. I'd tried weed before, but literally just a toke here and there.

Once I'd decided to kill myself, I thought "f*ck it, no future to care about, why not have a week just getting high like I've seen on TV?" Bought my first bag, rolled my first enormously shitty joint. Smoked every day for a week.

I just didn't stop, after that. My grades radically improved. I was able to seek support from my university. People weren't terrifying any more. A few months later I had my first girlfriend and lost my virginity. I slept for more than four hours a night. I've now had a succession of meaningful relationships, worked my way upwards in my job. I've cut back a little on the weed, but that's because I'm so much happier.

I've had friends who started weed way too early, they sound like your mates. I didn't try any until I was 18 and I was 20 before I went to a daily dose. It didn't just help me survive, it allowed me to live.

My advice would be: keep doses low, just enough for a comfortable head tingle, not enough for a wobble. Make sure it's blended with other activities, such as a part of a nice stroll. Keep moving, don't let it become a sofa anchor. Dried fruit and/or nuts for the munchies. Use a herbal vape to minimise lung stress. Sativa over indica, if given the option. Don't do it before work or in a lunch break, but it's a lovely treat for a commute home.

There is a big difference in using cannabis and using cannabis oil. The links to poor mental health with smoking cannabis would be a disaster for someone with autism or ADHD.

Ime it very much depends on the individual. A close friend is bipolar and has ASD and started smoking weed in the past 2 years and the change is incredible to see. On the other hand I know of a lifelong weed smoker who has pretty bad mental health, paranoia etc, which is probably caused by their long term weed use

I wouldn't give it to a teenager or young adult whose neural pathways are still developing. As an adult with asd/adhd, a small amount for me in the evening once everything is done calms my brain when my meds have worn off.

In summary:

You've seen some videos of cannabis being used to treat autism.

However, you also have first-hand experience of numerous individuals with diagnosed or suspected autism who have experienced a significant deterioration after using (street) cannabis.

I sort of feel like that's your answer, really.

If it’s still being studied then you can’t yet say it’s doing “actual groundbreaking good.”

Sadly, unlike other habitual drug users those who smoke marijuana are convinced, with little evidence, that it’s the panacea.

Weed is known to trigger psychosis in some individuals.

I have Asperger's and it's never done anything for me, good or bad.

My DS23 who has Autism and ADHD went through a phase of smoking weed a couple of years ago. He said it helped him. I think what he meant was that it slowed his mind down and stopped it racing. However the side effects were awful; paranoia, anxiety, weight loss. He couldn't see this though and blamed everything else - Covid restrictions, university, relationships - for the deterioration in his mental health.

He no longer smokes it thankfully. My personal view is that there is no benefit to cannabis (other than the medial kind without the THC which I know can help with pain relief).

Thank-you MephistophelesApprentice good to hear your voice and it is the most important voice better than (no offence to other commenters) but its good to hear it from someone who has actually experienced it for themselves. It's interesting you don't mention any psychosis from it at all.Reason I bring up psychosis with (weed and the friends I have seen be not in a good way when they smoke it) is because with aspbergers if there are any major changes in life it can bring about a form of psychosis and that's before smoking the weed so I'm wondering if weed is good on top of that kind of psychosis. It's very interesting as you are saying it dampens down your anxiety so you don't end up having psychosis etc.

Why would you cherry-pick the one answer that suggests it would be a good idea to give illegal drugs to someone who may struggle with their mental wellbeing?
Also, please use paragraphs.

It lowers intelligence and damages educational outcomes. Enough said

So someone with a load of druggy friends ignores all advice except the one anecdote from a habitual drug user who recommends drugging her child.

I hope social services are involved already.

Anything that acts as a relaxant 'could' help someone with autism. So alcohol, beta blockers, pain killers etc would all work in the same way as cannabis would in relieving anxiety.

All drugs have side effects. You would be naive to assume that they don't.

Hope your commute doesn't involve driving.

A lot of autistic people have addictive personalities. My ds and dd who are both autistic and both have friends who smoke weed both say they think it would be a VERY bad idea for them.

I can see how it could help with their anxiety but prescribed propanalol seems to do the trick.

Dd has been recommended CBD oil to help with a chronic condition she has but she is very wary, even with all the whatever it is that causes the high taken out.

I know someone with diagnosed asd who used to use weed. They said it helped them to relax and made them feel better. It really didn't look like that from the outside though. They were anxious and angry and depressed to the point they were suicidal. They eventually stopped using and will admit now that they didn't want to see it at the time but it made every thing worse, their life has improved greatly since they quit. They are now working full-time, no longer on any meds for their mental health and are much calmer all round.

As stated by pp there is a huge difference between cannabis oil and weed. To be safe you need the oil. Weed can help some and not others.
The research in Israel is really quite misleading, it hasn’t been peer reviewed so I would be wary. Research in America tends to indicate that long term use(smoking) would indicate an enhanced risk of oral and thoracic cancers, this is not solely due to the mixing with tobacco.

Ahh it cures everything didn't you know? Friends daughter had cancer everyone was pushing her at the school gate to give her edibles aloe Vera and other cult shite

Until there are proper studies done by people with zero skin in the game I will not accept that the potential side effects are worth the effort yes maybe they can edit that part out of the plant but they haven't seen fit to so far have they