Cannabis as medication for Asperger?

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Cannabis has been used as a medication for centuries. It is not possible to OD on pot. It is not physically addictive. (many do develop a psychological dependancy on it though)Some people love the sensation, some don't. I think it should be an informed decision made by an individual. If an addictive, cancer causing product like cigarettes can still be legal I see no ethical reason why pot shouldn't be especially since it brings relief to so many - not just recreational highs.

I could go into the economic benefits of marijuana- beyond the smoke supply - but I won't bore you with those tree hugging details. It's an amazingly useful plant and several cultures revered it as sacred to the gods for many reasons. Don't even get me started on the war on drugs...

I would love you to bore me with the tree hugging details. I am a member of votehemp.com. The applications for hemp are virtually endless. It is the most amazing plant ever.

Have tried it, so my opinion is from personal experience, and not ignorance. Caused every single aspect of my AS to be MUCH worse than without.

Been clean since 1990. No interest in EVER repeating that experiment (13 years!) again.

I became more withdrawn, more entrenched in my thinking, and more isolated from the real world than ever. IMHO, those that claim it has enhanced their social abilities are fooling themselves. The only "enhancement" it had on my social life was that I was surrounded by a lot of fellow potheads, equally withdrawn and isolated from real life.

I never would have known though, if I hadn't given it up. Now, my head is far clearer, and I can actually SEE how clouded it was all those years under the influence. I see it now in the few potheads I have occasional contact with. In a way, it's kind of amusing how convinced they are that pot is making their life better when now, from the outside looking in, it's plainly obvious to me it's doing the exact opposite.

I'm sorry, but as a former user who once believed that pot was perfectly fine, I now realize it's anything BUT fine. It may be perfectly fine for some choice few who only use it very occasionally and under safe circumstances, but for the most part, I'm now convinced it's downright dangerous, ESPECIALLY for anyone with ANY mental or neurological condition.

Ever see that ad with two kids talking about the dangers of pot? The one where one says, "Nothing's gonna happen."? And the other answers, "Yeah, nothing!"?

Well, guess what? That's exactly what happened to me for the entire 13 years I used it. Absolutely NOTHING! It was, in short, a complete and total waste of 13 years of my life. Time is our most valuable asset. Anything that has the ability to waste that much of our time, IMHO, is dangerous.

Anyone try Lecithin???

Yes, Phosphatidylcholine in large quantities. It reduces anxiety to near zero and relaxes the CNS for an amazing sleep quality when taken before bed..
Cognition is subtly improved. It's relatively cheap.

Try it!

As a member of votehemp.com you probably know more than I do!

I think the most legislative friendly argument we can make in favor of the marijuana plant, in general is it's economic viability as a cash crop. Even if you leave out the overwhelming evidence that legal pot would instantly end this 'recession' - the plant's value to the economy and our own 'green power' initivative is huge. It is an annual plant that is resistant to pests and is adaptable to a wide range of soils. It can be grown without fertilizer application because, as an annual plant, it dies back every year. If grown in the same field, and the leaves (which have little economic value) are left in the field - or composted and returned to the field the following season - it is self fertilizing. Even if soil fetility is boosted, the plant responds just as well to organic, renewable fertilizers such as seaweed, fish, guano - hell, even zoopoo. The leaves of the plant shade out other weeds that may threaten the crop thus no Roundup - sorry Montsanto, we don't need your frankenplants. the plant is naturally resistant to pests thanks, in part to those compounds, the pot community enjoys so much. the stems and branches are an extremely high quality fiber - hemp is the crushed and processed stems of the marijuana plant. It can be used to make fiber for clothing, rope (GWashington grew hemp!), and, most importantly paper! Imagine a 100% renewable source for all paper products that requires less effort to farm, can be processed with very little or NO petroleum products (paper processing is a major pollution source) and costs many times LESS. (are you starting to see why big business and government don't want to legalize?) Hemp is not your grandparents hippy hemp anymore. And I haven't even touched on the seeds yet. Hemp oil has one of the highest vegetable based concentrations of omega 3 and omega 6. It can be used to replace industrial petroleum based lubricants and additives. And the seeds are tasty - kinda nutty!

Sorry - I could keep going but I'll spare you all!

^ I like your reference to Montsanto. If anyone here hasn't seen the documentary, "Food Inc." I urge you to take a look. But, I am not going to thread hijack.

I really don't think it's a good idea to use any drug as a permanent solution to sleeplessness or anxiety, that's what you need your Ashtanga Yoga for!

Cannabis as medicine for autism is more for addressing the core 'traits'. Anxiety is a secondary symptom I believe?

Page plug -http://www.facebook.com/CFourA - page plug

I smoked pot daily for a while in college. It just became another routine like other stuff I've done. I think it's healthier overall for me than alcohol. I definitely enjoyed those times, but people always made me out to be a "dumb stoner" given the stereotypes and how dazed or giddy I probably seemed. It also caused me a few problems in a legal way (never with the police, but I was kicked out of my dorm room and had to relocate). I did become more social in most cases. The problem is when I wasn't doing it routinely it made my autism worse. I remember having a few meltdowns which seemed directly related to being under the influence of pot.

Typical response of a pot user. Thanks for proving my point. Case rested.

Try a search engine for this as related for help with autism ; I can't find the link now, but I remember at least some anecdotal evidence on this.

Lecithin is found naturally in foods, but you may need a whopping dose of it , as in triple strength lecithin with taking 4 @ night for me.

Stating that potheads are low life individual is another "argument" I often hear. Well the friends I have are good people, intelligent and have a futur. Did I say that most of them are going to university in engineering? I'm doing a master in eletrical engineering, another friend of mine is doing a master in robotics, another is a genius in guitar solo and one of the best car mechanic (he even got a second place in a national competition)... Cannabis doesn't lead you to homeless situation. Maybe beying told by everyone that you're a loser help someone believe they are and will stop to dream.

Hmm did I said I have a lot of friend? I think so and I do have Asperger Syndrom. I've tried to stop cannabis for about 8 months, those months where horrible to me. I haven't been more alone in my life than during those months. Without cannabis I can surely state that today I would be on my own with no friends at all.

MrXxx, where do you live? What kind of cannabis did you use? Do you even know the strain or did you use street cannabis? I can tell you for a fact that strain is as much important as medication posology. If you took indica, which would be the most populare strain for large production (because they are smaller and take less time for harvest), well you did take something that worsten your symptom. It did too for me on some occasion, but it was directly related to the quality of cannabis I was consuming. Quality control is the way to go. Saying that pot is bad based on BAD experience is not a valuable argument. It's like giving Valium to someone who suffer from too much sleep, it doesn't help, it make it worst. You have to know that cannabis's strain have a WIDE spectrum of effects. Some are more prone to worsten depression other strain will remove depression...

You are misinformed and for me misinformation is as good as ignorance!

I don't see the issue. I would never smoke weed though, I would use a vaporizer or eat it. No carcinogens then.

If they are not your friends when you/they are not smoking pot, then they are not your friends, period.

Some of the main reasons I smoke cannabis are:
helps me keep my depression under control and lowers the amount of suicidal thoughts I have.
helps keep anxiety under control.
It makes it much easier to relate to people and interact socially.
It helps me get to sleep.
Helps me organize my thoughts and sometimes helps me focus on things.
and of course music sounds even more amazing while under the influence.

Its pretty helpful in general, so I could definatly see it as being used for aspergers considering that it makes social interaction easier.

Case in point: same old boring circular argument from Chronos.

No refs. to back up his claims.

Clearly too rigid in his beliefs which we must celebrate as it is his autism, but why doesn't my autism make me such a boar?

LOL, that's a funny sentence. Do you even know why I stoped seeing them??? It was because they were going out a lot in bars or place with a lot of people. We are a good gang, at least 12 of my friends got to university, with their girlfriend that makes big party, 20-30-50 people... So without cannabis I was just too anxious. They did called me to do stuff, but I just refused, just too much too handle this on a regular basis. That's a problem you have Chronos, you talk before you know!! !

For example, just last night, my friend did a show in a rock contest in a Montreal Bar (they won 1st place by the way ). The bar had at least 60-70 people in a kind of a small place. I really don't like being touched, but it was just impossible to find a place where nobody would touch me. I did manage to handle this pressure because I smoked pot before. When I don't smoke I just can't stay, I feel so anxious not to be touched so I stop going out, which mean I stop seeing my friend on my own decision, which lead to social isolation... You underestimate the effect of cannabis a lot!