Highly controversial autism treatment that parents say is reversing children's symptoms
Some doctors and parents are turning to marijuana to treat children's autism despite concerns about the drug's safety.
Marlo Jeffrey, a nurse practitioner in Texas, told the Wall Street Journal she tried countless medications to help her 11-year-old son, Jaiden Gaut, who was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at age five and suffers anger and aggression.
But since starting 7.5-milligram gummies mixed with THC - the psychoactive chemical in marijuana - and CBD last fall, 'his behavior improved a lot' and his aggression calmed completely.
He has since transferred to a mainstream school and boosted his grades.
Texas therapist Michael Zere's nine-year-old son Ezkiel had trouble sleeping and would bang his head against hard surfaces.
After taking a low dose of THC/CBD supplements, he now sleeps seven hours a night.
Both families are clients of Dr Mohsin Maqbool, a pediatric neurologist in Plano, Texas, who treats about 40 percent of his autistic patients with cannabis.
It's thought that THC and CBD activate molecules that bind to receptors in the brain responsible for regulating mood, stress, sleep, and brain development.
Parents of autistic children are increasingly opting for controversial treatments like marijuana supplements (stock image)
Zere told the Wall Street Journal measures like melatonin and $4,000 magnetic resonance treatment, which uses magnetic fields to stimuate nerve cells in the brain, did little for Ezkiel.
'I had to try whatever works,' he said. 'And this thing helped tremendously. He is now sleeping seven hours a day.'
Zere added: 'His behavior is much better. He's behaving at school. He's not scratching. He's not head banging. He's doing great.'
However, some experts caution not enough is known about the effect of cannabis on children and point to other studies suggesting the substance may even cause autism.
Recent studies have also linked the drug to an increased risk of heart attack, strokes, colon cancer and faster biological aging, as well as mental health issues like schizophrenia.
The controversial treatment comes as one in 31 children in the US are thought to have autism, a staggering increase from about one in 150 in the early 2000s.
Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has called the increase in diagnoses an 'epidemic' and urged Americans 'to recognize we are doing this to our children and we need to put an end to it.'
He announced earlier this year a series of studies that will look into 'environmental toxins' he believes could be causes, including pesticides and food additives, and promised 'there will be an answer for the American people' by September.
Dr Maqbool told the Wall Street Journal up to 80 percent of his patients who take THC/CBD report improvements in sleep and other behaviors like aggression.
He starts patients on a low dose and gradually increases it if patients don't respond. However, the exact dosage is unclear.
About one in five patients don't respond initially, he said.
The research on marijuana and autism is scare and mixed.
Earlier this year, researchers in Brazil analyzed studies of nearly 300 children and young adults with autism and found those who took CBD had 'significantly enhanced social responsiveness,' meaning they were better able to understand social cues and maintain conversations.
The participants also had 'moderate' improvements in disruptive behaviors like tantrums and sleep and 'small yet notable reductions' in anxiety.
But in many studies, marijuana has been shown to increase the risk of autism rather than alleviate it.
A review of 400,000 pregnant women and their babies published last year, for example, found being exposed to marijuana in the womb increased the risk of autism or ADHD by 30 percent.
Those researchers suggested THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, may pass from mother to baby through the placenta, leading to harmful DNA changes.
And a 2024 study from researchers in Australia found smoking marijuana could increase biological age by 30 percent, which increases the risk of birth defects in future children.
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry recommends 'against the use of medical marijuana or isolated cannabinoids' for children with autism and encourages legislators to 'refrain from approving the use of marijuana and cannabinoids' for autistic children 'in the absence of scientific evidence in the peer-reviewed medical literature.'
And the Autism Science Foundation suggests parents by 'very cautious about giving THC to their children.'
Zere, however, was willing to take the risk for his son.
He said: 'I was exhausted. I wanted to try anything that could help my son sleep and manage his behavior.
'This is the only thing that worked; it's a miracle.'
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