Can Cannabis Help with Autism?

Is there evidence to back up perceived successes?

There is a deep divide in opinion about whether cannabis is a safe and effective treatment for autism spectrum disorder. On the one hand, there are countless parents who fervently believe they have seen drastic improvements not only in the disruptive and injurious behavior of their kids but also, not uncommonly, in cognition and social connection. On the other hand, there isn’t an overwhelming amount of hard-core data suggesting it does or does not work. This is partly a reflection of our past funding priorities which solely emphasized finding the harms associated with cannabis use.

A small but growing cadre of cannabis medicine providers are convinced that cannabis is a safe and effective medicine for many of the core and non-core symptoms of autism. Many parents have witnessed benefits. Mainstream pediatrics isn’t on board with this yet.

There’s a taboo on testing THC on children because of (legitimate) fears that it may harm brain development, so we have very few studies that include significant amounts of THC. We have more studies with cannabidiol (CBD) and other cannabinoids. As such, we are left extrapolating from animal studies, which can be difficult to translate to humans, especially in something as socially complex involving subtle interpersonal connection, such as autism.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is broadly considered to have core and non-core symptoms. The core symptoms are deficits in communication and social connection as well as repetitive, restrictive patterns of behavior. There are no FDA-approved medications to treat the core symptoms of ASD.

The noncore symptoms of ASD can include irritability, self-injurious behaviors, aggression; anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics, Tourette syndrome; depression, gastrointestinal symptoms such as heartburn, constipation, and diarrhea, impulsivity, and insomnia. Epilepsy is seen in up to one-fourth of patients with autism.