Medical Marijuana ok’d for some Rhode Island Autistics

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Autism spectrum disorder has been added to the Rhode Island Department of Health’s list of conditions that can be treated by medical marijuana.

Wendelken said it only applies to the autism spectrum disorder in which certain symptoms are present, including the “repetition of self-stimulatory behavior of such severity that the physical health of the persons with ASD or others is jeopardized, and/or avoidance of others or inability to communicate with others to such severity that the physical health of the person with ASD is jeopardized.”

Before a physician prescribes medical marijuana to a patient who is a child, he or she must consult a child psychiatrist or pediatric neurologist, as well as three months after the initiation of the drug.
The department also said it will require that other medications be considered first and be discontinued if it is not benefitting the patient.