can smoking weed make autism worse

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Well said.

It's a 60/40 help/harm ratio. I don't think it is a miracle drug, but I know that it treats symptoms of many, many diseases. Ultimately, I would tell a 14 year old with AS not to smoke without consulting thoroughly with a physician and under the direct supervision of his/her parents.

Bison

One of the most interesting things I've observed about MJ was when I was in 9th grade. There was a guy that I used to hang out with who had a severe stuttering problem. I mean really severe to the point where he couldn't speak 3 words without getting stuck. After he smoked some MJ his speech was perfectly normal, you couldn't tell that he had a problem at all. Whenever I hear any BS about MJ not having medical benefits I think of that guy. The tragedy is that he would spend all day in school not being able to participate in many things because of his stuttering when he had the perfect medicine but it was illegal. I don't know if it's easier to smoke in school now but that was during the height of the Reagan war on drugs so if you got caught with MJ it was a pretty big deal.

Well, it makes the "symptoms" of autism much worse, at least for me. However, unless you do it every day for like 10 years, it is not permanent. You feel extra stupid for about 3 hours, and then you feel normal again. It kind of really depends on the type and quality of weed, though. I'm not a big smoker, but I have friends with all kinds of different pot preferences, so I've sampled several different kinds. During one instance, I was so socially ret*d that I could barely talk. Other times, I've been unable to comprehend what anyone is saying. Though generally, the affect is very subtle. It makes you feel different, but it's usually not debilitating.

Here is a video from a well respected doctor who claims that marijuana help the production of brain cell (neuropgenesis)
http://www.ted.com/talks/dean_ornish_sa ... _fate.html

(This is not the main topic of the video, but it is mentioned at some point)

If you want to convinced yourself of that, type neurogenesis and cannabis on Google.

Some research have also proven that endocannabinoids contained in pot are a powerful antioxidant, especially good for the skin. Actually, we know that the human body produces those endocannabinoids in small dose.

Beside the scientific evidence, we can take a look at practical evidence of the effect of cannabis. I have smoke myself nearly every days for about 2 years. It is true that the the periods where I smoked to much, I didn't feel good. I felt a bit psychotic and paranoid. However, those effects wore off within days I stopped smoking. Beside of those unwishable effects, I had some interesting pot experiences. For exemple, I remember this night I was really stoned, I could slove Unblock me puzzles much quiker than usually even on the expert mode. I sometimes feel a higher level of conscience when I'm high, I reach place in my conscience that I never reached before.

Some people dismiss the beneficial effect of marijuana on the basis that it the intellectual capacities seem to shrink after the consumption, but this is not a rational reason to dismiss marijuana. Just think about exercising. By seing someone who just run a long distance, one could conclude that running makes people tired and weak and that therefore it is not a healthy activity. Interestingly, this kind of reasoning is wildly accepted when it comes to marijuana. People don't distinguish between the immediate effects and the long terms effects.

Having smoking pot for about two years, I can attest that I didn't experience memory loss, my intellectual capacity have not decreased, I still have a very good memory and a good analytical power.

I wouldn't know - I steer clear of all drugs.

I don't know if it makes autism worse or not.

On the "no" side, I've known quite a few high-functioning autistics who are much calmer, happier people when they toke a little.

On the "yes" side, those same people seem to have more trouble with impulse control and appear less willing to work at learning things than non-tokers. I don't know if that's amotivational syndrome or a personality trait, though.

I did it for years. I quit because I had kids and because it made my mind feel all cottony-nasty. I decided it wasn't worth feeling like I couldn't think just to make it easier to keep my mouth shut and act happy. Sort of like risperidone, only not as severe but unfortunately illegal.

I think it ought to be legal here in the States.

I also think fourteen is awfully young, and that there's a lot about the effects of cannabis on a developing brain that we just don't know because we've been too quick to condemn and not studied.

You can do what you want, but based on my own experience I recommend against it.

Good answer and a good idea.

Here is what you need to know: on the street, you can't be sure of what kind of cannabis you are buying, and this is important. There is wide variation in cannabinoid content between strains, and those compounds are responsible for the therapeutic effect. You could become anxious on one strain or sedated on another.

I support the use of cannabis as medicine, but unfortunately it is too hard to find what you need from a high school black market. Due to the lack of research (thank the DEA and the federal government) we don't know which strains are best for which condition. Most of what we know comes from self-experimentation.

Though the long-term effects of cannabis have been studied, there remains much to be concluded; debated topics include the drug's addictiveness, its potential as a "gateway drug", its effects on intelligence and memory, and its contributions to mental disorders such as schizophrenia and depression. On some such topics, such as the drug's effects on the lungs, relatively little research has been conducted, leading to division as to the severity of its impact.

Pulled this from wikipedia, link below

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_iss ... f_cannabis

Erm... I don't know if it makes autism worse, but when I smoked weed for around a year straight, I became nearly catatonic for around a year straight. I've smoked many different varieties, including some I've grown myself, and it has all had the same effect: my anxiety eclipses to a point where I can't function at all, and I get so confused that I find it impossible to talk to anyone. I don't smoke weed anymore and will probably never smoke it again.

I had a bad crowd of friends back then, too. They would hold lighters to metal objects until they turned red-hot, and then hand them to me. I would take them and get 2nd degree burns. Things like that. Not fun when you're already confused out of your mind.

I find it helps me, but don't get caught ... and don't let it become your whole life.

Ok, Sweetleaf, you are the same person who discussed with me the fact that smoking pot can cause psychosis, you stated you knew it could cause psychosis. I feel the need to point this out because you are telling A FOURTEEN YEAR OLD that pot is one of the safest drugs. I think it used to be safe, back in "my day", but from what I have learned, it's not the same old pot from the old days and is often dusted with other worse drugs.

No person 14 needs to be taking risks with drugs.

I never said it caused psychosis, if you smoke enough of it you might get more psychedelic effects than expected and end up feeling paranoid and anxious especially if you do not enjoy the effects....also apparently for some people with a pre-disposition for schizophrenia it can bring some of those symptoms out but it does not cause them itself.

Also I never recommended that the OP smoke it, but I am not going to exaggerate its dangers. Also it would make no sense for cannabis to be laced with worse drugs as most 'worse' drugs are more expensive, it would be a waste of money to anyone selling. So though it happens in rare cases it's not as common as you seem to be suggesting as most dealers are not going to waste more expensive drugs that way.

Never said 14 year olds should do any drugs, but I am not going to lie about the effects and risks.

Weed enhances all of your senses, makes things taste better, makes music sound better, makes thought more profound, makes pleasant tactile sensations feel better, gives you a more positive outlook in general, etc.

But I've also found, that if I get far too high, it can occasionally boost my autistic sensitivity to certain textures and sounds. If there is something you can't stand touching or hearing, being extremely high can make it even worse. An ordinary high won't change much, it's only if you take too much.

Also, it's only temporary. Everything goes back to normal once it wears off.

I find that its benefits have always outweighed its rare drawbacks. When used responsibly and sensibly, it can make any autistic person's life better, in countless ways.

This thread scares me. Some posts deny basic scientific evidence such as the effect of THC on (short term)memory.

If I smoke more then once or twice a month, my ability to deal with sensory input suffers and my short term memory isn't 100% anymore either. If I smoke everyday for over a week, both suffer greatly.

You can imagine what that does to the (negative) ASS characteristics. That's right: stress and poor/worse conversation skill. Also, anxiety and schizophrenia related symptoms are more likely to occur when using cannabis products. Both age and intensity of use contribute to risk. This makes it very likely that it does effect your mind further, at the very least a developing one.

I agree that drinking is physically much worse then smoking hash or weed (and find the effect more pleasing myself), but both have nasty side-effects on long term/intensive use. I value my mind more then my body though, so I still drink every week but would never again smoke every week.