Can medical cannabis be used to treat people with autism in Florida? Not specifically, as the developmental disorder is not listed as a qualifying condition under the state’s medical marijuana law.
However, anyone diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder likely suffers from medical conditions similar to those that are listed, says Dr. David Berger, a medical marijuana-qualified physician based in Tampa. He is a board-certified pediatrician and the founder of Wholistic Pediatrics & Family Care and the affiliated medical cannabis clinic Wholistic ReLeaf.
“For instance, a person with autism may have irritability or obsessive-compulsive symptoms or anxiety or insomnia, similar to a person with post-traumatic stress disorder, a qualifying condition. So, we say that a person with autism suffers in a similar way to those particular symptoms for a person with PTSD,” Dr. Berger explains.
Dr. Berger advises against using THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive component of cannabis, particularly for children. Instead, he advocates for starting treatment with hemp-derived cannabinoids like cannabidiol (CBD) before introducing THC.
He says CBD can help address endocannabinoid deficiencies associated with autism, which impacts critical functions like learning, emotions, and sleep. Dr. Berger reports positive outcomes using plant-based cannabinoids in his wholistic pediatric care approach, which extends to herbal medicines and nutritional and lifestyle therapies for autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity, and related disorders.
“Sometimes I have families who say, ‘I don't want to put pharmaceuticals into my kid. I'd much rather put a natural substance into my kid," he says.
Dr. Berger says the benefits of using cannabinoids and medical cannabis to treat children with autism far outweigh the risks. For one, parents can observe a treatment’s effectiveness, or lack thereof, in a few days and adjust the dosage lower or higher if needed, he explained.
Dr. Berger recommends that parents and caregivers keep a log of the dosages they administer to remember which yielded the best results.
