A woman has told how she got her young son a cannabis license despite his doctor’s reluctance, making him the youngest in the US to have one. Read the full article here
When Marie Myung-Ok Lee’s son Jason was three years old, he was diagnosed with severe autism.
The novelist tried every conventional treatment to help her child and did not work.
The college professor shared her story in the documentary Weed 6: Marijuana and Autism, available to stream on Flash.
“As soon as he got up, he would start screaming, wailing, I couldn’t help him”, she told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
“As a parent, that’s the worst thing. I couldn’t comfort him. He didn’t want to be touched. He had a lot of aggression, he would attack us all the time.”
The college professor did some research which led to cannabis. Her son’s neurologist was reluctant to consider the drug.
“He was very worried that if he helped us get a licence by prescribing it, that if it ever got out he was prescribing pot that was just going to look very bad for him”, she said.
Fortunately, the family lived in Rhode Island where cannabis was legal. In 2008, the then nine-year-old became the youngest person with a medical-marijuana license in the nation. The permit allowed Marie to access the drug from a grower in Rhode Island.
Nervous about a particular dosage, the author decided to experiment on herself for the right amount before giving the marijuana to her son. Marie said Jason had zero aggression after he was given the drug. Pediatric Neurologist at UC San Diego Dr. Doris Trauner says it’s not a good idea to run out, buy it and try to use it on your own.
“It’s not clear what dose is the best dose if it does work”, she said.
“Also whether what you are buying really has what the dose you think it does because it’s unregulated. You don’t know what else is in that bottle. There could be pesticides or other toxins that we just know about”.
Weed 6: Marijuana and Autism follows several families using cannabis to treat their children struggling with autism.
“Cannabis works on autism”, Scientist and organic chemist Dr. Raphael Mechoulam said. “I strongly believe on the basis of what we have seen in animal models and in people that use cannabis. “The effects are definitely positive. There should be clinical trials. We should look at the doses. This is one of the fields that are very promising.”