In my previous blog I
mentioned how a baby, age two at the time, underwent chemotherapy for a stage
four brain tumor and recovered miraculously due to the doses of marijuana his
father was giving him. Though medical marijuana has the ability
to treat patients after undergoing chemotherapy and help for a full recovery, medical
marijuana also has medical properties to treat patents for other serious mental
and physical body issues – attention deficit disorder, the prevention of HIV
from spreading, multiple sclerosis, autism, etc. For example, medical marijuana
is used in some situations to help patients with autism.
Autism is a general disorder, which
deals with brain development and can vary in degrees such as difficulty with
social interactions, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive
behaviors (Autism Speaks, 2013). Although being diagnosed with autism allows an
individual to excel in certain areas such as visual skills, music, math and/or
art, autism doesn’t have a cure and can cause serious physical health issues.
Luckily, for some patients diagnosed with autism, medical marijuana can be used
to help the autism’s symptoms. In specific cases, autism can be very deadly to
those with eating disorders.
Not long ago, Joey Perez, a
ten-year-old boy diagnosed with autism, had trouble eating because of the
disorder and didn’t look like there was a way to help him (Brownstein, 2011).
He weighed around forty-six pounds at the time Joey Perez’s mother,
Hester-Perez, did some research and found a doctor that helped kids with
autism, using medical marijuana. While Hester-Perez, at the time, was up to
trying any type of treatment to save her young boy, who was first introduced to
marijuana by eating edibles to help his appetite. Edibles are marijuana infused
snacks or treats that is an alternative way to get the affects marijuana has,
opposed to smoking it. Although Joey Perez was taking numerous amounts of drugs
everyday for his autism, before using marijuana, the marijuana infused edibles
help him build up an appetite. Because the marijuana infused edibles gave Joey
Perez such an appetite, he no longer had trouble eating. Marijuana helped Joey
Perez’s autism significantly enough to save his life.
Like Cash Hyde, mentioned in
my previous post, Joey Perez was given a certain dosage of marijuana to
help his medical issue. Joey Perez and Cash Hyde were both young boys and were
given doses of marijuana, which saved their lives. The common thing in both
cases was that both parents of the children were giving them a certain amount
of marijuana orally, opposed to giving their children marijuana sporadically;
Joey Perez was given an edible every two or three days. Marijuana is a drug for
a reason and should not be abused, which is why people view marijuana as a
negative, illegal drug. Marijuana will always be used for personal and medical
use, but the more medical marijuana is shown to treat specific issues, the more
people will start to see the benefits to marijuana. Even though marijuana may
have negative short term affect, a consistent dose of medical marijuana can
significantly make a difference on ones health
