It is very sad that people don’t understand marijuana is not just a fun drug that makes people laugh uncontrollably and eat not stop.
When used as a medicine and controlled properly it gives soo many people a relieve they have never felt before without it. And without the long list of side effects we all see in tv advertisements.
Thanks again for sharing because it’s people like you willing to “admit” that this is how YOU choose to medicate you children and you have evidence that it’s working. It doesn’t sit well with a lot of people but a continuous effort, like you have shown, will win over the public in time.
How to say this properly?
For us, it wasn't so much a choice like most people think.
It's more like there really was not much other choice.
I like to think I keep a fairly open mind, but cannabis had never really been on the radar until the self harm resulting in surgery and the mood and behaviors that went along with it. Even then, we relied mostly on conventional medications and did add CBD without THC in hopes it would help and that only after seeing several stories on successful use in autistic children that were remarkable.
Only when it became clear that 5 conventional medications together - klonopin, buspar, zyprexa, geodon, and nortriptyline all at the same time - along with the fish oil, vitamins, and CBD were doing not enough for the mood and the tantrums and after we considered seriously placement outside of our home did we "resort" to getting his medical card and open up to using THC. It was an act of desperation when nothing else worked.
I really want people to understand that while these conventional medications - none of which have been FDA approved for kids with autism (but there is only one that is and it's called risperdal and I was not going there even though it's in the same family of 2nd gen antipsychotics) - anyway, those meds all failed to improve the mood or control the behaviors but cannabis WITH THC has worked for everything. It has improved his mood, increased his appetite and ability to tolerate different foods while still losing weight, improved speech, improved socialization, controlled behavior, reduced anxiety, calmed anxiety and anger.
And after this I'm asking myself "Why the hell didn't I do this sooner?!" We know the answer to that. Because it was banned, stigmatized, and its medicinal properties were denied even as the FDA approved medication after medication derived from it, three in total now.
I know others can benefit from its use. If our story makes it easier for those who need it to gain access I will consider that a success. If it changes one mind - success.
It's not like I plotted secretly for umpteen years to spring this on the world. I have never used cannabis personally, including CBD.
I do want other children (ETA: and adults) who need it to have clear and legal access so they never get to the point we did. And perhaps they can achieve greater things, excel in school, and have successful and more productive lives because of it. Maybe they can be spared a little of what we went through to get here.
I guess I feel pretty passionately about this.
