Family uses medical marijuana to treat severely autistic son
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Medical marijuana is a controversial treatment option for adults – let alone children.
But Jeremy Echols, of Oregon, says that that the drug is helping his autistic – and severely self-destructive – 11-year-old son, Alex.
By the time Alex was 5, he demonstrated severe self-destructive rage – such as head-butting walls until his face was black and blue. But after enrolling Alex in the state’s medical marijuana program, the family saw a dramatic improvements in Alex’s behavior.
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“He went from hitting himself, bloodying his face, to within an hour or hour-and-a-half, he would be playing with toys, which at that time was almost unheard of,” Echols said.
Alex’s parents give him a liquid form of the drug three times a week.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is against the use of medical marijuana in children, and a doctor told My Fox New York that the drug can be toxic to children’s developing brains. Also, there isn’t enough known about marijuana’s long-term side effects.
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But for the Echols family, the benefits significantly outweigh the risks.
“For us the long term side effects that are unknown, for something that can’t kill him, are a lot better than the long term side effects of him beating himself bloody,” Echols said.