Marijuana and Autistic Spectrum Disorders

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you just have to be in a good mood to do it, if your anxious or depressed your not going to have a fun time at all

the effects vary widely & are based on;

a) genetic origin of the seeds - sativas tend to be speedy and/or psychedelic, indicas more narcotic

b) time harvested - unripe= speedy, overripe = narcotic

c) storage conditions - if it goes stale it has a fuzzy, stupefying effect

For some people it doesn't matter what the mood is.
I have a hunch it is just a brain chemistry thing.
I have gotten shakes and heart palpatations too...in fact it always makes my chest sorta hurt..and makes aches and pains obvious when they did not bother me before.

I could be in the greatest mood in the world and it will effect me the same.

Schwag is scary(and to me it smells bad)...kind bud is scarier and because there is more THC....I am not sure about indica...
it is a moot point because I just avoid the stuff (except for my dumb slip up on 4/20

I still think the stuff should be legal..

I... sort of use weed. I found a binaural beat generator that's supposed to act like the stuff and it's had amazing effects. I think every day since then, when I've used it and went somewhere like college, I've had at least 4 or 5 good conversations with people. It's been like waking up, even. I don't know how much of a dose it's equivalent to, but I listen for 15-20 minutes usually. I know when to stop because I actually start to get feeling in my arms and legs where it wasn't there before. The world seems less flat too, either that or it's something like a loss of tunnel vision. I'll go to class the next day and I'll be concerned about whether I'll really be able to handle it or not, but all the time I find that I tend to stutter less, I can keep with the flow of a conversation, and generally I'm in a better mood and keep eye contact better, so more people want to initiate a conversation anyway. I'm sure people still think I'm eccentric as hell but I can tell I'm finally making an impression on people.

I could see where it hurt if you're depressed in the first place. I haven't been depressed for a while, I've been taking SAMe for that and it's worked well. But I was concerned about what I'd do after college. I want to have some kind of support system after college is over (especially since my mother died a year ago). But I did try to cut down on the SAMe since I was worried about how they'd interact (even though SAMe isn't a drug but a supplement, it seems). This wasn't good, and I actually feel like I was going backwards. I'm thinking that if depression is the brain's reward system malfunctioning, you would need to alleviate that first. And then with marijuana, I started to feel a desire for social contact as most people usually do.

So, here's what I'm doing for treatment:

* SAMe
* Binaural Beats
* And in addition, I'm trying to keep from eating wheat or dairy (which should be easy with a diet of mostly Asian food), and I'm exercising plenty, of course.


But I think everyone with AS should be aware that it CAN have a positive effect, and maybe try it in a controlled/supportive environment. And you know, if you already are half-addicted to something that isn't even a drug, like cookies or something, you should think before you do it. I'd even say that biologically marijuana was meant for people like us, just like... aspirin was meant for people with headaches.

But like I said, your brain's reward system probably has to be in the right state (i.e. not depressed) if you're going to find the reward in talking to people.

Oh, and like Biostructure it doesn't tend to make me feel particularly exhilarated or anything. It kind of tickles and I tend to lean into the sound of the headphones if it's working right. But in general it feels more restful. If I am euphoric at all it's because all of a sudden I can talk naturally and all that. But I would crack up at Scooby-Doo or something stupid like that when I'm sober.

I forgot to mention there's also a very pronounced feeling like the world, or my thoughts are quieter. Or both even.

Random thoughts:

You are right that SAMe is not a drug. It is more like a B-vitamin; it can help some with depression.

I tried cannabis for a while in the early 80s. While on one hand it was sometimes fun (and I found it impossible to quit until the bag was empty), it caused in me: anxiety, paranoia, memory problems, delusional thinking and OCD symptoms. I'm not trying to generalize it and say it is all bad - I don't care if others do it, no thanks for me. Other around me could use it and simply mellow out, but I often became somewhat agitated and a lot more impaired.

Cannabis hits a totally different neurotransmitter system than any other common drug - the anandamide system. Comparing it's effects to other drugs does not make sense, nor does calling it a 'depressant' or 'stimulant' - drugs can stimulate one thing and depress another at the same time.

Yeah, I definitely mellow out. Even when my dad found out I was pretty calm about it.

And like I was saying a binaural beat generator is a kind of sound program that synchronizes your brainwave frequency to the sound or something like that. I guess the effect would increase if I listened longer, and I could've listened for hours if I wanted to. But I haven't had any desire to do so.

I feel so tense right now I could smoke a pound

I haven't taken marijuana and that kind of drugs, and I won't do it.

My cousin smoked marijuana (I think he continues although he don't accept it) since he was 13. He says it was a big help for avoiding the real world and problems, after this first effect of the drug passed it was followed by anxiety, fear and paranoia. I don't know about drugs, but my cousin said that.

My only drugs are cheese, chocolate and videogames

I spent my high school and collage years smoking it, selling it and growing it. I dont do it much anymore actually its been a while. In my city their was a huge drug bust, and my supplier got caught with $10,000 in his home safe and 3 pounds. He had been selling me ounces and QP's for a while, and I in turn would smoke a ton with friends and hook a few close friends and neghboors up. The only reason I ever did all of this was because everyone else was doing it, and I wanted to have friends so friends = being involved with weed. Eventually I got into selling large amounts, because I wanted to be the 'big guy' someone everyone needed, in high school and collage, and sometime afterwards, I wanted people to hang out with me. I enjoyed smoking pot for a while, but then I realized it made me even more paranoid, socally akward, and stupid and forgettful, not to meansion the possibility of getting caught (ive been caught by the police 2 times for minor posession in collage). When my buddy got caught finally, i decided I had enough, I had a few ounces of weed that I was supposed to sell, but thought the cops were watching my house (cause my supplier got busted with alot, charged with a felony) so I stashed it and smoked it with myself and friends all winter long, it ran out, and i decided to smoke only on occasion.

Since I 'quit' i feel more clearer as far as my mind, i can pass drug tests for work, or better employment, no paranoia, no social crutch, no issue with getting caught. It feels good not to have anything illegal on me or in my home or car anymore.

I am supposed to go on vacation next week tho, and bought a half ounce for that week, its quite alot for me, spent $100 for 4 8ths, but i want to shair it with friends, and not worry about running out, and once its gone i wont buy anymore until harvest time, i like to do it on special occasion.

Unfortunatly, when I quit, i started taking these powerful pain medication for my back and am addicted to that, now I use that as my social crutch cause they make me feel good and confident, even in a crowd, i need to quit, as its far worse then the weed, which was bad enough. Its been a while, but I really, once I get clean, and itll be soon, want to start putting more time into my new relationship with my girlfriend and towards attaining new interests and expanding my horizons and not shrinking them.

I tried it when I was younger, but it didn't do much for me. It just made me feel stupid, anxious and paranoid. Alcohol is my wonder drug...

Pot provided for me great anti-stress properties, most likely via it's melatonin-release effect. It's also great for my free-running of delayed sleep phase syndrome and non-24-hour sleep-wake syndrome (36-48 cycles) that started around age 13-14 in junior high.

2 thumbs up seanb!

IMHO it's helped with getting to sleep, having better digestion, and relief of pain-all with fewer side effects than pills (and I hate having to take pills).
"Does it make any sense to insist that someone in pain must use a synthetic, more expensive but possibly less effective version of a substance that they could grow in their backyard ?"-Arthur Caplan.

http://www.wrongplanet.net/modules.php? ... sc&start=0
In which my post said (in response to question of "has anyone found it helpful to smoke weed ?"):
Yes-though the powers that be refuse to believe this & would tell me it's the drug causing my "paranoia"-when it's their wrongheaded laws that induce my paranoid (realistic) negative feelings.
Am dx'd ASD & wish these arbitrary laws were fixed. It's terribly unscientific, closed minded, and cruel to dismiss, deride, marginalize, scapegoat, gaslight, and/or imprison those who consume these leaves (and to enforce personal beliefs upon another individual's own body). Tobacco is legal, which is okay with me-but tobacco is much more harmful than weed-yet green leaves are illegal, brown ones aren't. Know it's not that simple, but anyway...
Sorry-it's hard to go into how it's useful when the topic makes me defensive (because it's so controversial, people get particularly polarized-making assumptions & precipitous conclusions).

(in respose to someone else's quote in same thread): Thanks for saying that, saved me the time trying to explain. My ex-husband (NT) is a hyped-up (and hardworking) person, he smoked constantly-it enabled (in a positive way) him to cope & calm down after coming home from work. Better than alcohol, we agreed-and weed's f/x are much preferable to those of rx'd (manufactured pills) medications. Of course, it differs for each person.

Sometimes I think the feeling neurotypical people get from 'taking' marijuana, it's similiar to the feeling that serotonin have in the asperger's brain. With this I mean, the abssent-mind of an asperger is similar to the feeling who has experienced from smoking marijuana, but in our case we are permanently in the 'limbo' ( cause our high-functionament of serotonin in the brain, which affect to our notion to see the world, also, the 'perception' ) .. so no need to take marijuaan for an 'aspie', ...

I think i have AS, but probably at a mild level. I have smoked for a few years now, and it seems to help me a lot. I am not depressed (but do stress too much). But more than just relaxing me, it really opens me up socially and even my girlfriend and others say that I am more clear when I am a little high than when I am not high. (I know this is opposite of most people). I think what it does as much as anything is slows down my thinking process and I don't leap ahead with connecting ideas (what makes sense to me seems to be non-sequitur to others when I am not high).

In some ways the "defrag" anology is approprite, except that it is doing it real time and only if I lock the thought for memory (or write it down) does it have any value for the following day.

I think dosing is important and then keeping it under control, but for social purposes it is about the only time I feel I can start to relate to most people (NT's).

I'd enjoy hearing from others who have had similar experiences.
Thanks

I have known people like that, but for them it had reached a level where they were simply awful to be around when they didn't have their weed....ergo they were more pleasant to be around when they were stoned.