Dear Ms. Myung-Ok Lee,
We are writing in regards to your commentary article titled, “I made my autistic son cannabis cookies. They saved him.” First, we would like to thank you for sharing your journey thus far of navigating the complexities of treatment options for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Your story clearly highlights the hopes, confusion, and frustration many families go through when trying to address problematic and sometimes severely dangerous behavior which may develop for a number of reasons and can often be difficult to treat. We are glad to hear that in your son’s case he seems to have found something that helps his behavior. That being said, there are some points in your article which should be highlighted when it comes to the selection of treatments with lacking or inconsistent supporting scientific evidence such as marijuana for the signs and symptoms of autism spectrum disorder.
First, the title of your article may be misleading to many. It could potentially give the message that cannabis is a new “miracle” treatment for autism in general. Over the past few decades there have been a number of purported “miracle” treatments families and institutions were quick to adopt. Some such treatments, for instance facilitated communication, turned out to not only be ineffective but harmful to individuals and families. This however was only discovered after proper scientific research was conducted. To date, there are no peer-reviewed research studies supporting the use of cannabis as a treatment for the core components of autism spectrum disorder. Although it may be working for your son, this may be due to the cannabis helping with a symptom resulting from his complex medical and pain history as opposed to treating autism. It should also be noted that seeking out gurus or obtaining expert statements from professionals at highly respected prestigious centers of higher education as you cite in your article is no substitute for systematic scientific experimentation and a strong evidence base.
As you accurately discuss in your article, this is a controversial topic medically and politically and cannabis’ use as a treatment for many conditions is currently in the early stages of scientific investigation. Often, effective treatments are initially picked up as research topics as a result of anecdotal reports such as yours. It would be inaccurate for us to be dismissive and simply say cannabis is not effective due to lack of scientific evidence. However, lack of evidence for ineffectiveness also does not serve as evidence for effectiveness. Like with any experimental medications or treatments, patients and families need to be presented with and understand the lack of current scientific evidence, the risks of usage, and the availability of existing treatments with an established evidence base such as applied behavior analysis or risperidone.
Again, we greatly appreciate you sharing your experiences both successful and unsuccessful and highlighting the fact that you started with the established treatments of applied behavior analysis and risperidone before attempting an experimental and controversial approach. This is not always easy for families as behavioral treatments may move slowly and take much in the beginning and as you pointed out some of the medications have serious potential side effects which need to be weighed. We hope your readers understand that only after attempting these established treatments and through thoughtful, careful research and consideration of the pros and cons did you then decide to try a different approach.
Thank you again for exploring such an important topic and sharing your family’s experience.
Sincerely,
Justin DiScalfani, Ph.D., BCBA-D and Renee Wozniak, Ph.D., BCBA-D
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
