Can Weed Help Kids with Autism? | WEEDIQUETTE 

Helps adults with autism.

0:57 Autism rates have not increased by 600%. Rates of diagnosis have increased. Do you understand the distinction? Many Autists are never diagnosed.

Pot did help me when I was 15. Within a year I was working as a waiter, in 2 I could navigate college and really make friends, I could talk to people. I could explore the world without being overwhelmed. A decade later I was running a business and able to sell design work, 20 years later my career is stable and I lead a large team. I still can't handle Costco or IKEA, and sometimes I like to stay in. I am still completely obsessed about my interests, and I still don't make friends easily, but the difference is profound. I remember pieces of how I felt as a child before and after finding pot. The rest of the world came into focus. People became somehow more real. I started asking questions, and developing a picture of who they were. It's hard to describe but it's like I suddenly began thinking externally. Everyone around me noticed. I still struggle, but my life was forever changed.

Cannabis helps children with seizures immensely. Can make the incidence of seizures from 100s a day to only a couple. You’d do anything for your children to live comfortably- don’t judge until you’ve been in their shoes.

My mom's friend has an autistic child in severe conditions, the kid and the family have a really difficult life. At age of 3 they tried CBD oil, and now at age 6 the kid even enjoys going to school. She doesn't talk, doesn't look in the eye, but writes notes and uses drawing to communicate. She laughs and seems much better now. 🎉

Damn who’s here before the Feds😂😂😂

The reason the number of *diagnosed* people with autism is increasing is because we've expanded the *definition* of autism, and because we've increased awareness of the disorder. *I* have Asperger's, which until recently was seen as distinct from autism, but is now seen as a part of the autism spectrum. The autism I have is relatively subtle, because I can understand irony and metaphors really well, and I probably wouldn't have been diagnosed a few decades ago.

on the point that the incidence of autism has increased over the past few decades, this is largely due to an increase in awareness of less obvious autistic symptoms in ondividuals with low/no care needs. In essence, people who don't necessarily seem autistic are now increasingly being diagnosed, which is unlikely to be a result of vaccines or age of parents and so on. As mentioned in passing, autism is a spectrum and not a monolith, and so it is very different for different people

Autistic people were not interviewed, nor were their opinions and experiences considered in this video. Their absence was not explained by Vice. Perhaps Vice felt the opinions of autistics too insignificant to bother thinking about. Cannabis, may very well turn out to be useful for autistics, but that was also not fully explored. Did Vice seek to interview autistics using cannabis? If they did, perhaps their experiences were also too insignificant to fit in the film. This was about the ideas of mothers/parents of autistics. It was heartbreaking to hear one mother speak of her "losses", starting with her still living child! She did not loose her son, he is there. She lost her fantasy, her dream, her expectation, of the son she envisioned she will have. Who is not the son she has. Generally autism societies, and autism communities represent the interests of the parents, as seems to be the case with the activism/support group of these mothers. For some reason, autistics still are regarded as needing to be cured, among many such groups. I did not see ay alternate opinions explored here. Id have expected Vice to ask the autistics using cannabis if their hoping for a cure. This was disappointedly another film pedling misconceptions and ignoring the knowledge, and experiences of autistics themselves.

My 7 year old son was diagnosed 2 years ago with a rare genetic disorder KCNB1 a type of encephalopathy that causes seizures (60 to 100 per day) and is resistant to conventional seizure medications. On the 31st of december 2023, my son had around 70 seizures, out of desperation i started giving him small dosages of CBD oil (without thc). 48 hours later seizures stopped, we are almost 3 months seizure free.🙏🏻🙏🏻

Jesus--that one mom could help her kid by just reducing her volume. She keeps high-pitch-screaming in his face @19:35-36, and my autism was being triggered by it from a distance with the volume turned down. His nervous system is influenced by her pitch and dynamics too, and even if it's meant as an expression of joy/enthusiasm, it stuns/overwhelms the nervous system and kicks it into a higher gear. If you want to help temper someone's nervous system, temper yours before you engage and you'll have far less damage control to do on the back end. "Indoor voice" is what they used to call it; they could practice it together and it could be an amazing bonding experience to simultaneously temper. I love that these moms are willing to 'take risks' to break these laws when they have the chance to help their children. I can't imagine such a thing in the 80s. It's hard to be an unconventional parent--you can be ostracised easily for such 'socially conspicuous' infractions.

As a late diagnosed autistic person, the reason more people are being diagnosed is because we are now more aware of what warrants an autism diagnosis. People who weren't diagnosed back 50 yrs ago are now being diagnosed today. The diagnosis has changed in recent times and with more awareness, and more understanding of what that means, people who flew under the radar most of their life are now able to get a diagnosis. Females also generally present different than males. 50 years ago the understanding of what autism was was very poorly understood and many people who were diagnosed as "schizophrenic" were autistic. In fact, many different diagnoses were lumped into schizophrenia. On the other hand, autistic people (autism isn't something you just magically "get") may have been suffering most of their lives undiagnosed, only to find out they weren't a freak, broken, or a weirdo (as society loves to label us) but were in fact autistic. Autistic people don't want a cure. We would like to manage our symptoms better, yes. We should be focused on helping and accommodating autistic people..not trying to cure them. Also, talk to autistic people and not just the parents of autistic children. We exist, too. And it is a spectrum, so their are people who need life long care and their are people who can live independently but still need a support system. It's genetic, it's not caused my vaccines, or sugar, or whatever BS people like to believe. These claims are proven false and only do more harm than good. Try to accommodate autistic people instead of curing them. All I ever wanted to know was what was "wrong" with me and finding out I was autistic changed everything. Also, Autism Speaks sucks.

How crazy and dumb is that a mother has to BREAK the law to help her child live a comfortable life... All because the governments decided marijuana is illegal.... Yet one of the worst drugs, alcohol is completely legal.

3:13 Saying that Autism “destroyed our family” is straight out of Autism Speaks’s horrible “I am Autism” commercial. Don’t blame your child’s neurotype for the end of your marriage.

And the comments already suck. I understand people not wanting to for there personal reasons but the lack of open minds is mind boggling

4:09 It’s just horrible how the video editor timed “psychotic episodes, suicidal thoughts” with the child happily stimming in the background, as though stimming is violent and needs to be suppressed.

When I worked at a “severe” special needs school there were a few kids who’d have their “special gummy” before coming to school, staff were all cool with it since it seriously helped some of them calm down and regulate. Even non verbal folks deserve to feel calm and relaxed and cbd/thc can help immensely with that. Ofc its still a drug and needs to be dosed appropriately but it can be life changing for some of us

I remember watching this when it was first aired and a LOTTTTTTT has changed all around on these topics in the last 7 years. If there's no follow-up to report on this, I'm not sure why it's being posted. Don't leave us hangin,' Vice!

“Autism rates growing” is an insane way to report better detection of autism. I’m a psychologist who has autism and specializes in treating autism, which we know to be primarily (if not entirely) influenced by genetics. Every client I’ve ever worked with has autistic family members. The brain is detectably autistic at 6 months and we’re sure you can’t get it from vaccines lol. Love this for weed tho

Could you @VICE please make a followup on these families, so we can see if and how it has helped after 7 years? ❤❤❤

A lot of misinformation about autism on this video. So much hurtful and otherizing rhetoric being used to describe ASD. Cannabis can indeed help treat symptoms of autism that can be disregulating, but it cannot cure autism, which this video really seems lean into. Also, the "white autism mom" light this reporting seems to focus on has been one of the most detrimental factors of autism advocacy.

As a new autistic stepdad I wish I could do more for my non verbal son. I look in his eyes and see the want and need to talk..says small phrases and such. I don’t know what will help him for the future but I’m glad I’m not alone.

As an autistic adult (I was diagnosed when I was 10/11 (I don’t remember when exactly)) I’ve noticed how much weed has genuinely helped me deal with my autism. 1) socially/anxiety: one of the biggest benefits I’ve noticed is that since I feel relaxed and my anxiety lessened, I’m able to socialize normally, I can actually start convos. Before I was debilitatingly anxious, I couldn’t get out of bed, constant anxiety/panic attacks. 2) it’s helped with my hypersensitivity, sometimes I feel so overwhelmed and it can be physically painful to even just lay down in bed. Weed is the only thing that has been able to relax me when I’m in this state. It’s honestly been the best thing for me.

I'm a young adult with autsim and adhd. I've taken stimulats and they only made my quality of life worse. I take sedatives but relying on them is scary CBD and cannbis is in a lot of ways my perfect medication. Cbd doesn't have all the scary side effects of sedatives but it really impoves my quality of life. I only use small doses of cannabis and it helps me regulate my emotions so that I am able to function and somewhat enjoy life. Cannabis is not legal where I live but it should be. It's a life saving medication

There is this stuff called marinol. Comes in 2mg or 5mg. My daughter who was a cheerleader/ all sports athlete. Was diagnosed with (AML) leukiema at the age of 16. I did some research and found this medication. She took this medication. It was the only thing that helped her with her extreme pain from the chemo and it helped her with her eating. chemo kills everything, Good and bad. she was having a hard time keeping anything down. They were threatening feeding tube, she said absolutely not. So we tried other options. This medication was the best thing in the world for her. At first they were giving her oxycodone for her pain.. Problem with that is, it's so highly addictive and on top of the leukemia she was already battling, I didn't want her to be dependent on a controlled substance. She has now been cancer free for 6 years.

Shawty is smuggling drugs when she could just ask around and find a plug 💀💀

This first aired in 2017 when Dylan was 6, so now in 2024, Dylan should be turning 13, I would love to see an update with him, and also HIS opinion on his THC usage. Amazing stuff as always, Vice.

Damn this is a blast from the past. I wonder if these kids are leading a good teenage life now

5:55 I broke down crying my boy 18months has terrifying seizures and I feel like I watch his soul leave his body everytime he runs outta air changes color you’ll hear his head hit the flor and all I can do is scream my little man’s name and pays his back to keep heart going I’ll blow air in his mouth. It’s the most terrifying thing ever, I see it in my wife similar issues but his hit like a double whammy. I’m sorry but thank you for saying that, I’m watching this and I’ve heard it before can help and i my self tell my wife about her health weeds benifits blah blah but I wasn’t thinking about my own son but thank you for waking me up before it’s too late. I’m gonna show my wife this later on. Very sorry for your little mans loss, I wish you had someone advocating for you 5 years ago so you could have been saved. But sadly this is how we as a society change, someone’s gotta pay and it’s always those who never had a chance 😭😔☹️😞😕🙁😥😭

8:26 It’s all about the Autism Mom’s journey. So little here about her kid. I hope he’s now receiving a better level of care.

Did anyone ever consider the food we eat?

9:22 Mom’s so unhip, dropping the word “gateway” with the casualness of an elephant’s diarrhea.

When they talking about “getting kids high” it really means helping them at a chance to feel normal. Would u say “I’m getting high” while you’re taking your prescription depression meds?

It’s not the rate of Autism has increased, it’s the chances of diagnosis being increased.

As someone who just got my son's medical card recently. His life has improved greatly,seizures are non existent, he's talking more,and his overall quality of life is amazing in comparison to what it was. We tried meds first they were absolutely awful and the side effects were unreal. Im so happy we tried this route

Covered in chills. Thanks for sharing

wow, weed never stops surprising me. crazy to think it is/was illegal (i'm from germany and in 30 days we are legalizing yay). it should have never been illegal in the first place

I hope y'all stay around making these vids you've made a huge impact on my life ❤️

No dad’s included. Sup with that?

A few minutes in and I hope autistic adults react to this in RU-vid videos for my own sanity.

As an autistic adult who uses medical cannabis daily this made me shed a tear i really hope we can all come together to realize how amazing this plant is and how many people it helps one love everybody ❤

I'm an adult with autism and it helps as well with my PTSD and chronic pain as well

As someone with mild autism, I'm totally okay with not dying of polio or meningitis. Although it definitely makes more sense than during development (incidentally when vaccines are given) makes more sense than the vaccines themselves. I am curious about weed treatment for autism. But I'm insanely allergic, and I'm capable of managing my negative symptoms. So my point of view is very different from these parents. A guy I worked with years ago was treating his autism with weed, seemed to work okay for him.

It definitely prevents my autistic meltdowns from getting violent

Unfortunately I can relate so much with these parenthank you so much for such an informative video It's really an amazing video

Tugging on my heart strings. Moms are amazing.

It would be interesting to have a followup episode to see how things are 7 years later.

10:31 Weird… for me, it’s all about the CBD, with less or equal amount of THC.

the type of courage that changes and moves the panet..

Loved this episode. I'm so happy these families were able to find a solution or at least the start of one. I imagine a lot of them will be moving here to CO soon if this works well and if PA doesn't get faster to get dispensaries in their state

Vice please bring back Weediquette a lot has changed since 2017 and we are getting closer to have full legalization across the country there is so many stories to tell get back to your roots!!!!

"And then we considered stronger pharmaceutical medication and I got scared" good for you Mom! be scared of the pharmaceutical industry as healing is not the priority.

props to these parents they are doing a great job trying to help their kids with severe problems choosing natural over pharmaceutical routes

These are the type of stories that Vice blew up on. Bravo

Any proper physician could explain to you how extended usage of cannabis messes with both cognitive development and hormone production and can trigger various mental illnesses. I understand there might be some good usage of it for some kids, but it should be monitored by specialists. The fact that these people improvise the dosage of high THC oil that they give to their children without any medical support is really, really worrying.

We truly need more research for autistic adults and their use of cannabis to deal with the traumatic experiences that they have dealt with through the lack of postive social interaction. WE NEED MORE RESEARCH ON AUTISTIC ADULTS🖤

great video love this journalist

A follow up would be awesome to see!

Wonder why he didn’t use high cbd strains?

2:12 timing the mother’s statement that she “really can’t leave him alone” with footage of the boy’s vocal and physical stimming, as though his stimming is a danger to him, just spreads misunderstanding.

This was a powerful documentary

As someone with autism who regularly uses to help function in society i almost cried when she handed the other parents the product. My autistic chipd has not yet consumed but id be open to it in his teenqge years.

I have Asperger's and smoked weed since I was 13 ... 16 years. I don't take any other medications. Finally achieved home ownership and I grow my own indoors and out. Don't these moms like gardening? lol it is a weed!

Bellmawr, NJ is 15 minutes away from Philly. You can buy THC products in NJ legally. The biggest obstacle is the $5 toll over the bridge.

what an honor to work for a place like vice. good stuff. gogo parents, get the help ur kids need

This story needs a follow-up episode.

I think it could really help my daughter with medication resistant adhd. I hate the meds and how they are affecting her growing brain. I wish we were allowed to try this God-given plant everywhere in the US!!!

If wanting info on Vaccines & Autism go to The Highwire (with Del Bigtree former producer of ABC’s The Doctors) Being producer led him to research vaccines

Emotional stuff. Great documentary. Happy 420 2024!

Wow. About 2 hours ago the thought went through my head for my son. I did not say it aloud or mention to anyone. Then this pops up.

absolutely, i am living proof

Why don’t they ask adults with autism what helps them and what they have found to work?

Thank you !!!! It stresses me less but I hope it helps my twins knowing more.....

you can really see the difference after the spray of the terpenes. i wasn't expecting that but wow! I feel so proud for cannabis and the boy.

Im so glad finally someone is gonna try...my best friend has a daughter with autism and told she would never talk and now she talks. Autistic children are so amazing ❤❤hearts just want to love

3:00 Sorry, fatal? Where are you getting your information? I see no references.

I'm glad this woman isn't keen on the idea that vaccines cause autism. I'm 35, and I have high functioning autism I was diagnosed with when I was younger. The ONLY people saying vaccines cause autism are folks who aren't even autistic. Let me tell you straight that is incredibly offensive to anyone with the condition. This is something I was born with. NONE of my symptoms came about through vaccinations, in fact they continued to progress throughout most of my life where I have had no vaccinations at all (my Covid shots were the first since over a decade). To affix blame to a disability is disgusting. These ideologies do not speak for me, and it only shows sheer stupidity.

That's a great question!

here in new zealand we have "medicinal cannabis" but no doctor will prescribe it they continue to bury their heads in the sand saying there is no research that proves its use forcing people to use 1 of like only 4 or 5 in the entire country dedicated cannabis clinics which all charge varying prices and have confusing pricing structures, i've asked neurologists i've asked multiple GP's and not a single one will even hear me out and from that point on i'm treated like i'm drug seeking. things need to change.

As a former kid with autism, yes.

Thanks for this. These kind of videos help me to feel not alone in my single father lifestyle caring for a 8 year old non verbal autistic. 💕💕

I am 33 I have two children I never went to doctors as a child life was hard for me. my oldest child 7 has autism watching him reminds me of when I was a kid I smoke pot it helps me allot I don’t give it to my children but it’s nice to see stuff being done about this. Also I was shown pot at the age of ten I have a full time job n a place of are own n I pay for all of it on my own

Great job, VICE! Thanks for always shedding light on important issues. Keep up the awesome work!

It would be interesting to see a follow up with these moms to see if it worked

Just as a side note, marijuana can also give you panic attacks, especially if you are prone to anxiety. Many people on the spectrum struggle with intense social anxiety. This mashup seems extremely ill suited to me, plus there is zero proper scientific studies to support it's use for autism, so essentially parents are conducting their own experiments on their children...

I'm autistic myself and the description saying that autism would need a cure is pretty insulting.

Really helped me with learning disabilities

My 18 yo low functioning nonverbal son w autism. Had seizures and they stopped immediately with cannibas. Years of pharma after being in ICU from depacote and trileptal. Depacote he has pancreatitis and trileptal was nephritis. He could only ingest liquid meds and it was killing him literally and then THC

I thought Vice was done! Beating a dead horse? Or on the way back up?

Maybe next time hire a reporter who is #ActuallyAutistic to cover Autism topics with understanding.

It must be so hard to never be able to relax because you’re always worried about what your kid is doing. My parents refused to diagnose me with autism but they shamed me for my behavior but honestly I know I put them through a lot. I personally am too into my personal space to have kids

these moms are so brave

the fact that woman is willing to risk her freedom for not only her baby but for everyone in her group is beautiful. i know this is an old video but i hope everyone is doing wonderfully now ❤

Just like everyone else on the human spectrum, I've known autistics who it helped them find their voice and access their empathy, as well as folks whom it left them borderline catatonic or even schizophrenic while under the influence.

5:50 wow that teared me up

I had no idea how many children have autism and how much it increases until I had a child with autism. Being a parent of a child with severe autism is absolutely life altering. Me and his mother are now in a position where we pretend we're together but really we just go through the motions to be there for our son and I pretend not to notice my wife has a man on the side and she pretends I could never understand. But I honestly feel all of it pales in comparison to one day in my son's shoes.

My little brother is a low functioning autistic person . Weed and oil has helped he’s seizures and him being calm …

This stigmatization around autism in this news report is appalling. It's very clear the journalist didn't talk to a single autistic person.

i was diagnosed epileptic had seizures etc..... 1 dr that i miss till this day hes no longer here told me to smoke marijuana and get tested again in 10 years. years back i got retested the liasion on my brain and the seizures stopped. thanks doc i'll see you when i get there. its been a while since a seen a group of great women together pushing the same direction. good luck ladies

It also helps with Parkinson's disease. I literally watched a man go from shaking uncontrollably to where he couldn't even hold a cup to take a sip to within 4 minutes of THC oil under his tongue sitting back relaxed with no one tremor. It's also amazing for ppl with seizures and ADHD. My husband is severe ADHD to where he would work 12-14 hour days and still not be able to wind down to sleep. With Marijuana he sleeps well, feels better, lowered his blood pressure and keeps him focused.