Medical Marijuana and Young Patients
Lately there has been a small burst of media fascination with what by most accounts is a rare occurrence: Use of medical marijuana recommended by a physician by patients under 18. Any psychoactive drug, including marijuana, should be used with caution in children, but there is no reason that these infrequent cases should be shocking. Indeed, they should be taken as signposts on the road to urgently-needed research.
Sad as it is to contemplate, kids do get deadly illnesses like cancer and AIDS. Medical marijuana dispensary operator Charles Lynch faced an enhanced federal prison sentence for providing medical marijuana to 17-year-old cancer patient Owen Beck, who survived his cancer partly thanks to Lynch’s help, and who attempted to testify on Lynch’s behalf but was barred from doing so. And millions of young people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been prescribed stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall, whose side effects can include psychotic symptoms and interference with growth, not to mention sudden death when used by patients with some preexisting heart conditions.
Unfortunately, a story in Sunday’s New York Times looking at marijuana as a treatment for young people with ADHD managed to avoid shedding much light on the issue. Instead, the focus seemed to be on sensational quotes (“worst idea ever,” “safer than aspirin”) rather than a serious look at the science.
Writer Kathy Ellison did briefly reference a study in the journal Schizophrenia Research, but without properly explaining it. Of the 25 young people with ADHD in this study, the marijuana users scored healthier than non-users on nearly every measure of mental functioning, including specific measures of hyperactivity and disorganization. This was particularly striking because in the same study a separate group of individuals at genetic risk for schizophrenia were made worse by marijuana. The published study includes a discussion of the biochemical mechanisms by which marijuana might help ADHD. This is consistent with published case reports that have found a beneficial of THC on ADHD.
Meanwhile, ABC’s “Good Morning America” did a more respectful job in reporting on the mom of an autistic child who says that a small amount of marijuana, administered under a doctor’s care, has literally saved her child’s life. Others have told similar stories.
We don’t know nearly enough yet to state definitively that marijuana is helpful for youthful ADHD and autism. But we do know enough to say that proper research is urgently needed, and that this is a serious enough issue that the media need to treat it seriously.
Tagged with: ADHD and autism and Charles Lynch and Media and New York Times and science by the author
24 comments
Opponents often say there’s not enough research into the use of medical marijuana on children or anyone for that matter.
So….ummm…let’s do some research? Wild idea, huh?
This is gonna sound even more crazy, but maybe we ought to let independent scientists in this country – ya know – do their job??
Thanks for the post. I have a nephew that has ADHD and he started smoking pot in middle school, against my sister’s will and mine too. He improved a lot around that time, then he got busted and put in reform school. He went down hill fast while in lock-up. When he got out at age eighteen, he got his own place and started smoking again. Can you say instant improvment? I guess that confirms our belief that the pot helped him.
Just one more victory for the cannabis plant.
We are all now familiar with the fact that an alarming number of children are being diagnosed and treated for ADD/ADHD with Ritalin and Adderall. In many (if not most) cases what this equates to is worn out, overworked parents aren’t able to keep up with their energetic but otherwise normal kids, so we’re actually developing a new generation of perscription drug dependents.
While these drugs actually may help some of the kids that are suffering from the real thing, I have personally seen major improvement in kids after they STOPPED taking these drugs (could it be they were just going through a particularly hyper stage and left untreated, they would have eventually leveled out?), sometimes the best medicine IS time (with a little patience as well…hey, I’m the mother of 4 and aunt/great aunt of over 70 kids…I know these things) .
As someone who has also seen the results of (actual) ADD and ADHD being treated with small doses of cannabis as opposed to Ritalin, etc.., I have been greatly impressed and relieved that the long term effects of the perscription drugs were completely avoided ( withdrawal from these drugs range from insomnia to suicidal tendencies).
So…yes it’s time to look at this wonderful plant and how it can help kids that really do need it.
Hey if you guys want to try and help out the cause some more head over to Facebook and become a fan of Chase Community Giving. They are giving out money to charities. Vote for the Marijuana Policy Project and any other groups for marijuana reform posted on there. (Leap and Students for Sensible Drug Policy are on there as well)
Bruce,
Thank you for talking about this. I mostly just read MPP’s blog, and rarely comment; however, I feel I must add a little bit to this article. Years ago, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I used Adderall every day for four years, and had the “snowball effect” (lesser effect over time leads to increase in dosage in order to counteract the compounding issues). Adderall, to me, might have helped me in grades, but had screwed me up personally/socially, and over time had become mentally destructive. I can attest on my personal experiences that hybrid marijuana strains (as opposed to either indica or sativa strains on their own, as they were overpowering for daytime relief) help me calm down, and allow me to focus without having issues. I have used Marijuana most days, and the only negative feelings I have are those relating to a social and legal nature.
I’m a medical patient in California, but that obviously doesn’t mean much. But the worst case scenario I faced to begin with was a $100 fine back home. Now I’m in a state attending a college that has the “potential” jail time of up to a year for possession of small amounts.
Thank you for your hard work towards marijuana law reform. I hope serious reform comes sooner to more people who have to battle cancer or debilitating diseases faster than the magic 2012 year that most reformers seem to be anticipating. I am willing to swing on the fence of legality as, in my opinion, it’s definitely more important to give people with serious medical need a priority on the marijuana law reform checklist. However, liberty and personal choice should never be forgotten in any aspects of the marijuana law reform either.
~ Chadwick
Bruce,
You keep knocking them outta the park like this and you’ll be outta a job in a few years!
And I’ll be glad to see that, in a good way of course.
Why is it such a far fetched idea for young peopel to use cannabis. has there been any research done on the subject. hardly any infact. all the bs is just heresay and lies from the prohibition side. Its their only argument; gota save the kids.we haven’t done even the smallest amount of research on the uses of this substance. as for non medical; if a kid is going to use a substance between alcohol, tobacco, and cannbis guess which one i would rather see them try?
Instead of what cannabis can do, how about what cannabis cannot do? It seems to me that the list of cannabis bennefits are endless.
My 4yr old son was diagnosed with ASD(autistic spectrum disorder). While I refuse to give him pot, I would like to see our government reschedule cannabis so that it’s usefulness (or lack of)can be studied. If it might help a kid, why the fuck are we NOT researching it?!
The thing that I find most shocking is that doctors prescribe, Desoxyn (Methamphetamine) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desoxyn to kids for ADHD, and nobody thinks twice about it, because it is a pharmaceutical drug. Yet when a parent treats their child with a natural, non toxic plant that has been used medicinally for thousands of years, people freak out about it.
9# the interesting effect of Desoxy on children with ADHD is that is does the opposite of what it would do to you or me. That being said it is a very controlled drug for a good reason. If you could get the same results from cannabis that you do from Desoxyn then i would say that cannabis would be the safer of the two drugs. dan#9 good idea not to give cannabis to a child that small with out the research telling what the risks are. Childs brains that young are still forming the neural pathways that they’ll need their whole lives. That being said if their is a disease or biological process that stops these pathways from being created, say in utero methamphetamine addiction, and cannabis is found to assist with helping these pathways form, then we are way behind the eightball in this scientific research. along with the millions of lives ruined with prohibition, the stigma surrounding cannabis because of the lies has cost of alot of time in research. sad.
I am a father of 5 children – ages 8 months to 18 years. My 7 year old son has epilepsy, and my 3 year old has a heart murmur and is currently being tested for epilepsy too, as he is showing the same signs our 7 year old did. Since epilepsy is one of the qualifiers in every medical state, I am wondering if it would be of benefit to my son. He is on a cocktail of meds now to keep his seizures under control that is affecting his abilities in school. Focus is his number 1 problem. Now they are giving him another medication to help him stay in his seat. As our Dr. told us, he is ‘high on the medications because he is on an adult dosage to keep his seizures under control.’ If our government really cared about the children, they would allow the doctors to do more studies. I would have no problem allowing my 7 year old to have a few MJ cookies instead of the horsepills he has to choke down now. Another comment my Dr. made that concerns me is the damage being done to his liver by these medications. I’ve never heard MJ damaging a person’s liver! Alas, I live in a state that will probably be the last to legalize Medical MJ. (Florida!) I’ve written all my congresspeople, and even though there is an initiative floating around, they explicitly EXCLUDE minors from being able to use medical marijuana. Why they are doing that is beyond me. You wanna save my child? At least allow him to try it as an alternative. I’m seriously thinking of packing my entire family up and moving to California. I don’t want to give up my sunshine!
Its ridiculous the amount of shit you can treat with marijuana. From nausea to ADHD… wtf! God knows what he’s doing I guess…
Our 7 year old has epilepsy and ADD- and is on some heavy medication as a result. Thank God the medication keeps him seizure free, but with side effects. The neurologists keep telling us that he can not be on clonapen for a long period of time. (he’s been on it for over a year.) Anyway, as soon as medical marijuana becomes legal, you’d better believe that we will replace some, if not all of his seizure mediceine with medical mj. It is worth the risk to try mj.
14# 12# while i believe cannabis could have some great results at treating adhd and focus, seizures are very serious and the drugs used to treat them should never be stopped cold turkey.
The most harmful thing about marijuana is the smoke. Vaporized marijuana is far safer and takes less bud to do more good. Neuropathic conditions are very receptive to the benefits of marijuana. Seizures are neuropathic and are one of the conditions that qualify patients for legal medical marijuana. The brains of kids are harmed from the smoke that comes from burning any substance including cigarettes and marijuana, and then breathed into the lungs which are also harmed. I bet when the smoke clears surrounding the testing of this plants many compounds, cannabis will be the best treatment for kids with all of these ailments, and all the drugs given to our kids now will be found to be harmful to the developing and developed brains. Most drugs today are harmful.
#12, the sun shines in California too, as long as you avoid the city smog. Once we switch to hemp seed oil, and stop burning fossil fuels, the smog will end. So will many of the diseases that are killing us now.
I’m 51. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 10. I was given Ritalin and some other drug to counter it and I still have the side effects from those legal drugs today: Nervous ticks.
I started using cannabis when I was 13 and had no idea that I was actually treating my ADHD SUCCESSFULLY.
I was also treating 2 other problems : anger and depression.SUCCESSFULLY!!!.
When I was forced to refrain from cannabis for 45 days in order to pass a piss test, my world fell apart. Forced to drink beer, many personal relationships were destroyed over that period of time. As soon as I started toking again, everything was fine, except the personal relationships are still destroyed. There was no withdrawal from THC, only the reoccuring problems for which I was using cannabis in the first place. Kinda like taking a diabetic off insulin. Everything goes haywire.
Legalize it.
Try Colorado florida-sunshine.
Robert Platshorn is in Florida after being in prison for nearly 30 years on cannabis charges. He’s on Facebook, if you go there, and he has a book out now about his life, Black Tuna Diaries. California is so darn expensive, but then what isn’t anymore.
Sorry, forgot to mention Robert is fighting for Medical MJ in Florida.
If medical marijuana was legal in Florida, my son and I would immediately be at the doctor to try. When you have a child on numerous medications to try to treat the violence and aggression that can be associated with autism, you have to think there has to be a better way. These pharmaceuticals are going to kill my son in the long run (liver damage, weight gain, diabetes, possible growth of breasts, and other unknown side effects) Since we have tried every legal medication on the market with no real difference, I think it is time to try something else, something natural. Man I wish I did not live in Florida
I too live in Florida and have been researching California and their laws. Florida will be last to be open to this! I am a native and have seen and experienced many changes here for the worse it seems. I have been smoking this plant( given to us as a pure gift from God for a reason)for 14 years. I have never been in trouble,caused an accident,started a fight or anything crazy that street drugs do to you while under the influence. LEGALIZE IT!!
Making a change like Medical Marijuana in Florida requires a lot of work. Make sure you take part in the effort.
It takes people like you being out there with petitions. We need to see your stories in the media so everyone knows who is really being hurt by this drug war.
Florida may seem like it would be last to flip, but multiple news outlets have done polls and we have 90-97.5% support. Also AARP showed 72% a few years ago, and this year another studying came out about the number of seniors smoking increasing drastically.
If we want this change, we have to make it. Feel free to email me at josh@pufmm.org if you have any questions.
My son is 14, diagnosed with autism, ADHD, ODD and OCD 10 yrs. ago. I am a big believer in the laws of the land, but also a big believer in God. God gave us mj for good, but we live in NYS, the land of idiots. I have researched autism and mj recently, really want to try it on my son, but don’t want to go to jail, either…I shouldn’t have to choose between helping my son and obeying the law. We have tried a few prescription meds, but I hated the side effects and the lack of benefits, so we stopped. I wish I lived in a different state now.
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