If Marijuana Is Something That Helps Can Greatly Decrease the Severity of Autism, Then We Should Legalize It?

Question by Niko Bellic: If Marijuana is something that helps can greatly decrease the severity of Autism, then we should legalize it?
It’s probably not a cure for Autism, but Marijuana really has many medical benefits. The only downsides are that it can cause short term memory loss (it goes away), it can do minimal lung damage and it can make you high. Marijuana isn’t as bad as legal drugs like Tobacco and Alcohol, so why make it illegal if it helps Autism? The doctors who talk about Marijuana being bad seem to have little education on it from what I’ve seen. My friend had severe Autism and she was a complete wreck who was inflicting pain, and ever since she’s been on Marijuana, she’s gotten a lot more calm and she’s been doing better socially. Tobacco could probably even link to Autism from what I’ve read, so why is this stuff illegal if it has some useful medical benefits?

I get that being high is a bad thing, but has anybody seen how bad drunks are? Being drunk is a lot worse than being high. Feel free to explain your thoughts on this drug being legal to help certain Autistic disorders.

Best answer:

Answer by Erin
I am Autistic, and I’ve done some research in the causes of Autism, while i understand your veiwpoint, I also know that it is possible that taking any toxic substance (ie. anything that makes you high destroys braincells making it toxic) taken long term can make Autism worse which would lead to a cycle of taking it for short term effects and getting increasing ly more Autistic

looking at this evidence, can we rightfully legalize it?

Answer by Metalplanttag
The most probable adverse effects (of cannabis use) include a dependence syndrome, increased risk of motor vehicle crashes, impaired respiratory function, cardiovascular disease, and adverse effects of regular use on adolescent psychosocial development and mental health. – www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2809%2961037-0/abstract

Marijuana abuse during pregnancy and adolescence represents a major health problem owing to its potential consequences on neural development. Prenatally cannabis-exposed children display cognitive deficits, suggesting that maternal consumption has interfered with the proper maturation of the brain. – http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/fnl.11.27

In the study, habitual pot users who were asked to abstain for two weeks experienced irritability, sleep difficulties and other symptoms that affected their ability to work and their relationships with other people… it is generally accepted now that the drug can cause addiction and withdrawal – http://news.yahoo.com/marijuana-withdrawal-real-study-says-210426347.html

bullous lung disease occurs in marijuana smokers approximately 20 years earlier than tobacco smokers. – http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123104017.htm

The strongest evidence of a causal association was for head and neck cancer, with two of three studies reporting statistically significant associations. The evidence was less strong but suggestive for lung cancer, with one of three studies conducted in populations that did not mix marijuana and tobacco reporting a significant association. Suggestive evidence also was seen for bladder cancer, with one of two studies reporting a significant association. For brain and testicular cancers, the single studies conducted of each of these endpoints reported significant associations. Among the epidemiological studies that reported results for parental marijuana smoking and childhood cancer, seven of eight found statistically significant associations. Maternal and paternal marijuana smoking were implicated, depending on the type of cancer. Childhood cancers that have been associated with maternal marijuana smoking are acute myeloid leukemia, neuroblastoma, brain astrocytoma, and rhabdomyosarcoma. Childhood cancers that have been associated with paternal marijuana smoking are leukemia, infant leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, and rhabdomyosarcoma. – http://life.umt.edu/curry/DOcs-SOS/Current%20Peer%20Educators/Articles/Tomar_et_al.pdf
Our findings indicate long-term cannabis use is hazardous to the white matter of the developing brain. Delaying the age at which regular use begins may minimize the severity of microstructural impairment. – http://brain.oxfordjournals.org/content/135/7/2245.short

Teens who routinely smoke marijuana risk a long-term drop in their IQ – http://news.yahoo.com/teen-pot-linked-later-declines-iq-192328332.html?_esi=0&bcmt=1346127366859-cc6205f3-31b2-4ebb-ac93-708fbfc37af9&bcmt_s=u#ugccmt-container-b

“Pre-natal marijuana exposure had persistent negative effects through age 16 on higher-order thinking, including problem solving, memory, planning, impulsivity, and attention.”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188826/

These results provide new evidence of exposure- related structural abnormalities in the hippocampus and amygdala in long-term heavy cannabis users and corroborate similar findings in the animal literature. These findings indicate that heavy daily cannabis use across protracted periods exerts harmful effects on brain tissue and mental health. – http://archpsyc.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=482744

Prenatal marijuana exposure significantly predicted child depressive symptoms and attention problems at age 10, after controlling for other significant covariates. Child depressive symptoms and attention problems at age 10 significantly predicted delinquency at 14 years.
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0892036210001571
“Maternal cannabis use during pregnancy resulted in more pronounced growth restriction than maternal tobacco use.”
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0890856709660731

Marijuana smoke was listed as a cancer-causing agent in California June 19, 2009
http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/files/p65single072012.pdf
Driving under the influence of cannabis was associated with a significantly increased risk of motor vehicle collisions, especially for fatal collisions – http://www.bmj.com/content/344/bmj.e536
Those who had ever used marijuana were 2.4 times more likely to be diagnosed with types of testicular cancer called non-seminoma and mixed germ cell tumors. These types of testicular cancer come with a somewhat worse prognosis than the so-called seminoma tumors. – http://news.yahoo.com/smoking-pot-linked-testicular-cancer-risk-123850779.html

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