Hearing Set On Adding Autism To Medical Marijuana List

[bobandtorey]

VAN BUREN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Lisa Smith says her son's behavior was dangerous: hair pulling, kicks, punches, all related to a severe form of autism. But it began to change more than a year ago when he was given daily oral doses of oil extracted from marijuana.

"That's all stopped. He's more focused, he's calmer," Smith said of 6-year-old Noah. "He sleeps better through the night. He has a better appetite. You can tell he's growing, gaining weight."

Noah is registered to use marijuana to control epileptic seizures; the effect on his autism was an unexpected benefit. Based on that success, Smith is asking the state of Michigan to add autism to the list of conditions that qualify for medical marijuana.

A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in Lansing. A committee mostly composed of health professionals will make a recommendation to the director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

"I know parents who are desperate. They're missing out on something that could enhance their child's life," Smith said. "A lot of children with autism don't have another qualifying condition like Noah does with epilepsy."

Since Michigan voters approved medical marijuana in 2008, it has been used to relieve the side effects of cancer, glaucoma, HIV, hepatitis C and a few other conditions. Post-traumatic stress disorder was the first addition a year ago. Nearly 200 people under age 18, a tiny fraction of the total, are approved to use marijuana.

In 2013, the state's Medical Marijuana Review Panel voted against making autism eligible, 7-2. There was skepticism about the effectiveness and a concern about adding more children to the registry. But the new effort seems more organized with more doctors willing to speak in favor, including Noah's doctor, Dr. Harry Chugani, chief of pediatric neurology at Children's Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.

"It seems to work. ... Wouldn't that be better than giving them all these psychiatric drugs?" Chugani said. "Not every autistic kid would take this, but if your behavior is wild and you have to be institutionalized, I as a physician would prefer to try medical marijuana. I have at least 50 patients on multiple drugs and still their behaviors are not controlled."

The marijuana isn't smoked. Smith described an elaborate process at her Van Buren Township home that involves cooking buds in a slow cooker, straining the mixture and putting it in the oven for hours. The result is a green oil taken by mouth.

"I've had other people tell me they see the change in Noah," said Smith, 46.

Recent commentary in a respected medical journal recommends a conservative approach. Scott Hadland and John Knight, doctors at Boston Children's Hospital, said marijuana "cannot be safely recommended" for behavioral disorders because of a "scarcity of data."

"At best, some might consider its use as a last-line therapy when all other conventional therapies have failed," they wrote in the February edition of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics.

 

http://www.wndu.com/home/headlines/Hearing-set-on-adding-autism-to-medical-marijuana-list-304610491.html

[t-pain]

big props to dr chugani for speaking truth about prescriptions.

[Hayduke]

This is of utmost importance:  Please attend the public hearing whether you have a personal interest or not.  Please testify if you can add substance to the discussion.  Please recognize Lisa Smith and other's heroic public stance.  Please thank Michael Komorn, Tim Knowlton, Zap, and other key people who have dedicated time, energy and effort to this discussion of Autism and Cannabis.

[bobandtorey]

OK     i don't really have the gas money to go but i will  go if you think it's worth going and  what time should people be there ?

 

it's  at 525 W Ottawa street Lansing Mich.. in the Williams Building ?

[+Malamute]

Seriously. Please go if you can.

 

So few people show up to these hearings for new conditions typically. 

[Michael Komorn]

Bob, I have your gas covered, but you have to bring at least 8 other people. 

[+Malamute]

Bam!

 

 :-)

[rockinlespaul]

You can pick me up on your way Bob. I'm right off 96 in Howell.

 

There's one, lol.

[+Malamute]

Even if not testifying, a show of support  would be great.

 

This is the public testimony meeting. Another meeting for the final vote will be in a month or 2 and I am sure Hayduke/Zap will put up the date.

[bobandtorey]

Bob, I have your gas covered, but you have to bring at least 8 other people. 

 

 

Thank you i will be there not sure how many i can bring 

[bobandtorey]

Even if not testifying, a show of support  would be great.

 

This is the public testimony meeting. Another meeting for the final vote will be in a month or 2 and I am sure Hayduke/Zap will put up the date.

What time should people be there ? 2 PM ?

[Michael Komorn]

I believe it is set for High Noon. But call me today to confirm and get gas money. Hope you are good Bob, look forward to seeing you and the other 8. Have a great day. !!

[Hayduke]

The testimony begins at 1 pm

[bobandtorey]

You can pick me up on your way Bob. I'm right off 96 in Howell.

 

There's one, lol.

 

 

I've sent you 2 PM with my phone # call me if you can go with me

[bobandtorey]

The testimony begins at 1 pm

Thank you 

 

Where is a good place for people to park ? so that i may pass it on to others

[bobandtorey]

OK thanks

[t-pain]

was dr allen at the hearing? did anyone speak against autism at the hearing?

 

the news article is not great at informing the reader who was where in relation to time and space.

[+Malamute]

"We don't have scientific evidence, efficient scientific evidence, to demonstrate that it works for groups of children," she said.

Individual parents testified that they'd seen improvements for their children, but Dr. Allen said there's no proof it'll work for every child with autism.

"A blanket to approve medical marijuana for all individuals with autism is a very slippery slope," Dr. Allen said.

 

 

 

 Easily destructed statement.

 

We have evidence. None will ever be enough for the doctor there.

 

Nothing works for every person with autism. Obviously.

 

 What a stretch of nonsense.  They just fabricate nonsense arguments now. 

[t-pain]

yep, shes full of baloney.

 

i wonder if she got her talking points mixed up?

i guess medicines better work for all patients or they cant be approved. heh

not to mention cant test medications on children anyway due to consent laws.

[t-pain]

wow. its one thing to leave a comment card and run, but its another to stand in front of sick kids and say that.

[bobandtorey]

I think its her Job she is protecting and she is missing the whole point because most believe that cannabis is a lot better then all those pill they give the Kid's 

[bobandtorey]

A group of health professionals is holding a committee hearing today to discuss allowing the use of medical marijuana to treat autism. 

Proponents say the extracted oil drastically changes the behavior of a person with autism. 

The hearing is open to the public. It's at 1 p.m. at the Williams Building in Downtown Lansing. 

Tonight at 6 p.m., News Ten's Ann Pierret will tell you how the discussion went and when a decision will be made.

 

Found this

 

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Committee-to-Consider-Medical-Marijuana-to-Treat-Autism--305181101.html

Edited May 28, 2015 by bobandtorey

[bobandtorey]

Lisa Smith said medical marijuana has changed the life of her 6-year-old son with autism. 

"I've seen my son come back to me," she said. "We've had a complete turnaround. He sleeps through the night, he eats very well, he's growing, he's happy, he's healthy."

Smith said Noah's autism has led to out of control behavior. 

"He would ram his head into the file cabinet, he would run into the walls, he would bite himself, gang himself, pull his hair," Smith said. 

 

Wednesday, she asked the state Medical Marijuana Review Panel to make it legal for Noah to take his 3 doses a day of cannabis oil. 

 

"I'm scared to death that CPS is gonna come take him away, but the alternative of having to put him in an institution would just be devastating," Smith said. "Physicians, parents,

 

should be able to make that choice."

 

But, Dr. Colleen Allen with the Autism Alliance of Michigan said medical marijuana isn't the answer. 

 

"We don't have scientific evidence, efficient scientific evidence, to demonstrate that it works for groups of children," she said. 

 

 

Individual parents testified that they'd seen improvements for their children, but Dr. Allen said there's no proof it'll work for every child with autism. 

"A blanket to approve medical marijuana for all individuals with autism is a very slippery slope," Dr. Allen said. 

 

And, Senator Rick Jones is concerned about the safety of the drug. 

 

He explained, "We need something in law to make sure they're properly tested for things like mold and bug spray and all the other toxins."

A law he's working on this summer.

 

The panel has 180 days before a recommendation is due to the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

 

http://www.wilx.com/home/headlines/Fighting-Autism-With-Medical-Marijuana-305241331.html

Edited May 28, 2015 by bobandtorey

[bobandtorey]

Pain and nausea are never a good thing, unless your child has autism and you live in Michigan.

Michigan’s six-year old medical marijuana law does not allow doctors to recommend it for patients suffering from autism, but you can receive a recommendation for the chronic pain and nausea associated with the disease. Lisa Smith wants to change that, and today she got her chance to plead her case.

Her little son Noah depends on the marijuana medicines for his well-being and his life.

THE CONDITIONS LIST

Noah suffers from seizures as a result of epilepsy, and his recommendation for medical marijuana use is based on that condition. His success with cannabis-based medications has been discussed in the legislature, on the pages of High Times magazine and in numerous newspaper stories.

Michigan’s law allows for a physician to recommend marijuana for the treatment of both illnesses and symptoms of illness or medical treatment. Along with a list of named illnesses, like cancer, the Act allows Michigan doctors to recommend the medicinal use of marijuana for chronic pain or nausea.

Nausea is a consequence of chemotherapy, illness and even prescription drugs. Chronic pain has so many causes, injury and illness among them.

Lisa Smith’s son has many ailments, including autism. Even though autism is not specifically mentioned in the Act she found two physicians who would recommend marijuana for her child on the basis of his epilepsy.

“Thank God they did,” Smith told the legislature recently.

On May 27 in Lansing a panel of mostly physicians heard arguments outlined by Lisa Smith, her attorneys and supporters on the reasons why autism should be added to the list of qualifying conditions allowing the medicinal use of marijuana in Michigan.

This is the second attempt at adding autism to the language of the Act. Autism was rejected in an earlier petition.

“This petition has the best chance of success,” said attorney Michael Komorn. “It is well-written, detailed and complete.”

Adding conditions to the Act is a difficult process, made even more difficult by new rules imposed by LARA over the objections of citizens and Senators. The changes, which were rejected by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in 2014, became part of Michigan’s medical marijuana rules in January 2015.

THE NEED FOR CHANGE

Conversation has swirled around Lansing’s Capitol Building for several years about reducing the number of registered patients (120,000) and caregivers (25,000) in Michigan, and one of the frequently cited ways they could do this is through the elimination of symptoms as a qualifying condition.

LARA has taken two steps toward accomplishing this goal already.

The applications and the annual reports have both been altered by the current administration, in a way that accents the number of registrants using chronic pain and nausea to qualify for their medical marijuana card.

Applications were changed to require physicians to check off the qualifying conditions and symptoms for each patient, instead of letting physicians list out the conditions as they do on other legally-required medical forms. Now ailments are offered in one area and symptoms are offered in another. It makes it easy to identify which applicants are AIDS patients, or chronic pain suffers, which leaves doubt as to the purity of the approval process.

In the past, the annual report prepared by LARA detailing the Act’s expenses and level of participation listed the number of registrants per qualifying condition. As of FY 2013, LARA’s reports offer these statistics not as numbers but as percentages, presumably to accentuate the number of doctors reporting their patient has chronic pain. The percentages add up to more than 100, which is never a good thing when dealing with statistics, prompting LARA to explain that doctors list multiple conditions on the applications and their paperwork processors now list each and every one in the database.

It was so much easier when they just presented numbers.

The Michigan State Police highlighted the issue during their presentation delivered to Rep. Klint Kesto’s House Judiciary Committee by featuring a slide showing the breakdown by illness or symptom of Michigan’s registrants.

Even that document had to be delivered with a disclaimer. When the percentages offered add up to more than 100%, legislators can figure out the data is being packaged for a purpose that is more political and less scientific.

 

http://thecompassionchronicles.com/2015/05/27/autism-and-medical-marijuana-michigans-big-maybe/

Edited May 28, 2015 by bobandtorey

[t-pain]

http://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/higher-ground-a-mothers-instincts/Content?oid=2349601