Nonprofit organisation Autism & Compassionate Care Connection (ACCC) are bringing the “Cannabis for Autism” conference to Southern California on Saturday, January 23, 2016.
The use of cannabis products in treating children with autism is becoming a hot topic. Stories such as that of Kalel Santiago are building hope in parents who are at their wits end in trying to find ways to manage the condition without medicating their children to the eyeballs.
Kalel , a profoundly autistic child, reportedly started speaking his first words soon after a cannabis derived preparation was sprayed in his mouth twice daily.
The medical profession is being incredibly cautious about the use of medical marijuana in children – and understandably so as there’s still a great deal of research that needs to be done.
It’s also understandable why parents are prepared to try it and are sometimes flouting local laws in order to do so. The stress and feeling of helplessness in caring for a child with severe autism is at times something that cannot be fully understood unless experienced.
An aspect encouraging the use of medical marijuana in treating autism in children is that these products may not contain the psychoactive compound THC or little of it; so there is no or a very minor narcotic-type effect – less than some conventional medicines.
The compound thought to have benefits in treating autism is cannabidiol (CBD) and apparently CBD has few negative side-effects. Cannabidiol can also be extracted from industrial hemp; medical cannabis’s low THC cousin. However, results vary child to child and sometimes a certain ratio of THC to CBD has reportedly produced positive results.
The Cannabis for Autism conference is about “educating the public on something that has been shown to help seizures; foster a calmer quality of life; overcome sensory hurdles; and increase restful, healthful, regenerative sleep at night,” says Nathan Coombs, president of the ACCC.
Keynote speaker at the conference is Dr. Lester Grinspoon; an Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
The event will be held at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center in Rancho Cucamonga. Further information can be found here.
Autism & Compassionate Care Connection are registered primary caregivers under California Department of Health Services Medical Marijuana Program. The group states the medicines they produce are distributed in according with California Health And Safety Code Sec. 11362.5 &11362.7
