Mom says medical marijuana has helped Autistic son, 12

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I have schizophrenia and autism; my dopamine was obviously high before I went on antipsychotics.

I thought Schizophrenia was related to overactive dopamine transmitters, which could actually cause low dopamine levels in some areas, right? Isn't this key to the hypothesis that marijuana contributes to the development of Schizophrenia?

I was under the impression that high levels of transmission = / high levels of dopamine production but that schizophrenia is related to pooling (high concentration) of dopamine in certain areas but virtually none in others? This is one of the dangers of marijuana: it messes with the dopamine receptor system (stimulates it) in a way that both depletes overall levels and possibly contributes to the development Schizophrenia according to some studies. I would imagine autistics might be especially at risk since we are more at risk of developing Schizophrenia than the general population as it is.

Everyone reacts differently to substances like Marijuana.

Some people say it helped them with their respiratory issues whereas most people will end up with a damage thats quite similar to the one from using tobacco for example (Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of the lungs and airways according to this http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_mari ... ory_system)


I d say that anyone considering this route should procceed with caution and hopefully under the eye of someone who can determine if it s helping or causing damage/ propper dosages

Certainly. It can be eaten in foods as well. Here in California you can buy ice cream with THC in it for medical use. Cookies, cakes, protein bars, sports drinks. And all locally made. There are drops and skin oils as well.

It's good to be informed. Just listening to hearsay is not the best way to find out about any given subject.

That's really interesting, I agree that we're probably a high risk group.
A fascinating bit of information I've found is that it's the THC in marijuana that (can) cause psychosis, but paradoxically the cannabidiol in it TREATS symptoms of schizophrenia as good as antipsychotics, and with fewer side-effects! So they say that might be why schizophrenics love marijuana so much (according to surveys).
http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/06/07 ... 39803.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/ ... ohol.drugs (gotta love the name of that link)

It especially alleviated the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which autistics can share, so I guess pure cannabidiol might "help" autistics...

Also, anyone considering/using the legal alternative/s should know that Spice only tries to copy the THC and not the cannabidiol, so it might be extra dangerous.

Alcohol and tabacco is also natural. Mercury is also natural. ^^ So yes, I am one of that naturefreaks buying organic staff, but only because something is natural, it doesnt mean that it is healty for humans. XD

I dont think its a good idea. Weed is not the devil and just like alcohol ist absolute ok for special events from now and then. (So I use it when I visit rockfestivals with my partner: +) I become very patient so the surrounding, the thousends of people causing thousend disturbances and noises are not affecting me and I can simply enjoy the music. Or shortly: I dont care for anything, everything is fine, and the music is great. ^^ -) I am slower in moving and thinking, which isnt really important as long as I am in a closed rock festival area and its only for a few days a year.

But like alcohol, if you use it every day there are great misadvantages, so dreaming on a rock festival twice a year is no problem, but dreaming while driving a car, going to school, being forced to learn, work, housework, ... is no advantage. Its not that I dont believe the mum, that her sun is now with Marihuana much more comfortable. The thing is, will her son be comfortable with her desicion, when he has grown old and was limited all his life because of his marihuana use? For example it slows your thoughts down a bit, so he will not be able to leanr as good as he would be without Marihuana. When he is forced to stand on his own, this will be a big misadvantage. The other thing, that teenager are as awful as they are, simply because their brain starts to evolve from a kids brain to an adult brain, and so you must learn to handle your feelings as an adult. But with Marihuana you dont learn that. "If I feel aggressive, I use Marihuana, and then I am not aggressive anymore." is not a good deal, because how are you going to handle your feelings when you are as example outside of your area, where you are not allowed to use Marihuana? So I definitly blame noone for calming himself down for a few days, when there is a major problem as a partner that died in a car accident and so on, but somehow you have to learn to deal with all your everyday normal anger, calming down in normal situations and so on. I also used it to calm myself down before my first dentist visit after 17 years, so I had a complete phobia due to an idiot dentist, when I was a child, my hands were shaking and everything and I was completly afraid. The Marihuana helped me to calm down before my first visit, so that I didnt panic, and so I could enjoy a good dentist working on me, showing that not every dentist is a sadistic a**hole ^^ and after that everything was fine. So I still dont feel happy when visiting the dentist, but because of the good experience its not that overwhelming panic anymore with flashbacks, so I can handle my feelings now myself.

So I dont agree with the people who see Marihuana as a killerdrug or anything, its simply like alcohol. Ok in a moderate amount on special events, but a dangerous thing for every day use, specially for kids whose brain are still evolving. And like alcohol it doesnt help you in anyway to deal with your anger or frustrations, simply because its not you dealing with the anger and frustration but the drug. And in your life you will have lots of situations (car driving, work, partnership, children, ....) where you simply cannot use the drug, because of its misadvantages.

Your description of dreaming during rockfestivals is just wonderful.
You're so right about a kid using a drug that decreases mental functioning in any way during a time when learning should happen is a bad thing. Like when kids are prescribed sedatives because of anxiety during school, which is about how counteractive you can get. The kids will show up at school, but they won't learn. Though apparently in this case the kid was having psychoses and that might limit his learning more than being high.
I don't see marijuana as a "killerdrug", but the THC-part do cause people to experience what's usually symptoms of schizophrenia, in a for many pleasurable way. That's what the high is about. For example: It makes everything feel new. That is usually a symptom of schizophrenia and can be very uncomfortable with unnerving feelings of "strangeness" or "wrongness"... Not being able to move, well take that to it's limit and we have catatonia. Etc etc etc. That's why the news that another compound of marijuana actually works as an antipsychotic is so paradoxical and interesting.
It is a bit weird to me that so many use alcohol as an example of a safe drug, as no other drug (except LSD, and psychedelics is another thing altogether) cause such big cognitive shifts as those two. I can understand why people are scared of other drugs if they think those are the two mildest.