Iowa Board of Medicine Moving Forward With Plan to Allow Treatment of Severe Autism With Medical Marijuana

(Source)

The Iowa Board of Medicine has voted to move forward with a proposal to add autism to the list of debilitating illnesses that can be treated with medical marijuana here in this state. Keep in mind that symptoms of autism can differ wildly depending on the individual. The board specifically agreed to moved forward with allowing this treatment for autistic individuals who are under the age of 18 who display self-injurious or aggressive behaviors.

The parent of two local adults with severe autism (and a friend of mine) indicated in this article that she plans to file a petition to eliminate the age restriction come Monday:

"Autism is a lifelong condition, and if people are prone to self-injury and aggression as children, likely that's something that’s going to need to be addressed in adulthood as well. It especially can be more challenging because they're bigger, they're stronger, and it's important that we're offering this option across the lifespan for people with autism,” said Roberts.

Currently, Iowa residents are potentially eligible for medical marijuana to treat cancer (if it or its treatment produces severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, and/or cachexia or severe wasting), seizures, Crohn's disease, otherwise untreatable pain, Multiple Sclerosis with severe and persistent muscle spasms, AIDS or HIV, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, or any terminal disease with a probable life expectancy of under one year (if it or its treatment produces severe or chronic pain, nausea or severe vomiting, and/or cachexia or severe wasting).

The board is also working on another rule change that would allow medical marijuana to be taken through vaporization or nebulization, in addition to taking it orally.