The autism petition has been approved by the Michigan Medical Marijuana Review Panel on 5-4-2018 and has been sent to the Director of LARA for a final decision to add the condition to the qualifying conditions for the Medical Marihuana Program. 
In the mean time, physicians in other states use medical marijuana to treat autistic patients already.
 
http://www.wfla.com/community/health/tampa-doctor-uses-medical-marijuana-to-treat-patients-with-autism/1153159741
 

After the MMMA was enacted by a vote of 63% of Michigan voters in 2008, the legislature has declined to add any new qualifying conditions to protect patients from arrest.
Senator Rick Jones even attempted to remove Glaucoma from the MMMP's list of qualifying conditions. Patients , caregivers and other interested parties wrote in opposition to the bill.
A handful of petitions have been submitted over the years. LARA (and the previous MDCH department) have used various reasons and tricks to deny these petitions. Only Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been added as a qualifying condition to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Act. Autism and Parkinson's disorder petitions were approved by the Michigan medical marihuana review board (the board consists mostly of physicians). These petitions were denied by the LARA director. The petitions were not deficient in any way and should have been accepted by LARA. We resubmitted the Autism petition again, with 20 additional research studies.
Now, with the help of numerous patients, researchers, Dwight Z. and Dr. Christian Bogner along with the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association and Michael Komorn, we have assembled a massive amount of peer-reviewed medical research and government data to show that these conditions should be approved to protect patients, caregivers and physicians from arrest for the medical use of marijuana to treat their conditions.
This project took months of work. Reading, organizing, searching and collecting thousands of pages of research from all over the world. Including the most up to date medical studies, peer-reviewed patient surveys and the national reviews of all medical marijuana studies by the National Academies of Science. The oldest peer-reviewed medical research paper cited within these petitions was from the first volume of The Lancet in 1889. Birch EA. The use of Indian hemp in the treatment of chronic chloral and chronic opium poisoning. The Lancet. 1889;133:625.
Cannabis, Indian Hemp, Marijuana, whatever you call it, physicians were using this non-toxic plant in 1889 to treat chronic opium poisoning and opium addiction. As opioid based prescriptions are addicting and killing approximately 142 Americans each day in 2017, medical marijuana is a non-lethal non-toxic way to avoid "America enduring a death toll equal to September 11th every three weeks."
The qualifying condition petitions were based primarily on the following:
Already approved qualifying conditions in other medical marijuana states. Historical and ancient medical books. Patient self-reports and surveys. US Government Department of Health and Human Services Patent on using marijuana to treat many diseases and injuries, including brain injury on humans. Institute of Medicine 1999 report on medical marijuana. This report was the basis for the MMMA, specifically cited within the Michigan law, MCL 333.26422 (b). National Academies of Science (formerly the Institute of Medicine) 2017 updated report on medical marijuana. Included research not only supports each qualifying condition petition, but also answers questions that the LARA directors, physicians and medical marijuana review panel board members had asked of past petitioners. Reports on dosages, safety profiles of marijuana, statistics from the CDC and Poison Control, and information from NIH, FDA and the DEA are presented in the petitions. This information was included in order to compare the safety, effects and side-effects of medical marijuana with FDA approved prescription medications.
All of the patients, caregivers, researchers, the Michigan Medical Marijuana Association and it's president Michael Komorn fully agree that marijuana should be removed from the Controlled Substances Act. Marijuana should continue to be studied as a treatment for every human and animal disease. Marijuana also should be submitted to the FDA for approval as a medicine. We fully support all clinical trials related to using marijuana as a treatment for any condition, disease or injury. As all of the scientific peer-reviewed published clinical trials show, marijuana is an effective medicine.
The http://www.nih.gov website was heavily utilized throughout this project for locating scientific peer-reviewed published research, reports and information.
The petitions are grouped by similar conditions, symptoms or mechanisms of treatment. Included in this post are some choice quotes from a few studies in each group of petitions.
001.-Anxiety.pdf
004.-depression.pdf
007.-Obsessive-compulsive-disorder.pdf
008.-panic-attacks.pdf
011.-Schizophrenia.pdf
012.-Social-Anxiety-Disorder.pdf
Marijuana and Medicine Assessing the Science Base 1999 report from the Institute of Medicine
https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2014/04/10/anxiety-reduction-exploring-the-role-of-cannabinoid-receptors/ 

Medical Cannabis in Arizona: Patient Characteristics, Perceptions, and Impressions of Medical Cannabis Legalization.
 
014.-arthritis.pdf
023.-Rheumatoid-Arthritis.pdf
 
Preliminary assessment of the efficacy, tolerability and safety of a cannabis-based medicine (Sativex) inthe treatment of pain caused by rheumatoid arthritis
Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain-related behaviours in a rat model of arthritis

025.-brain-injury.pdf
030.-Treatment-of-spinal-cord-injury.pdf

031.-asthma.pdf
 
Effects of smoked marijuana in experimentally induced asthma.
Effects of cannabis on lung function: a population-based cohort study
Newspaper ad from 1876 selling marijuana cigarettes for treating asthma.

You may laugh at a marijuana cigarette as a real medical treatment, but marijuana is a verified bronchodilator similar in strength to albuterol, the standard asthma medication. The medical efficacy of this specific brand of Asthma cigarettes were specifically exempted within the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs as created by the United Nations. This means these marijuana cigarettes were still able to be sold after each country banned marijuana.
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1951-01-01_4_page002.html
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/bulletin/bulletin_1962-01-01_4_page005.html
036.-diabetes.pdf
 
The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research (2017)
The Impact of Marijuana Use on Glucose, Insulin, and Insulin Resistance among US Adults
044.-colitis.pdf
050.-gastric-ulcer.pdf
055.-Inflammatory-bowel-disease-IBD.pdf
064.-Ulcerative-colitis.pdf
Marijuana Use Patterns Among Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program: Patient Experiences from the First Program Year by the MN Department of Health 2016.
Cannabinoids and the Urinary Bladder
Cannabinoids and gastrointestinal motility: Animal and human studies
Medical cannabis – the Canadian perspective
Impact of cannabis treatment on the quality of life, weight and clinical disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease patients: a pilot prospective study.


106.-organ-transplant.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4541500/
Medical Marijuana and Organ Transplantation: Drug of Abuse, or Medical Necessity?

107.-Non-severe-and-non-chronic-Pain.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998228/
LARA statistics show the majority of the 250,000+ patients in the MMMA are using cannabis to treat chronic pain. As we know that the medical use of marijuana can treat “severe and chronic pain” already, it can and should be used to treat regular generic pain that is not severe and chronic.
The reports and information from the Minnesota Department of Health on its medical marijuana program are very detailed and informative about patients experiences with medical marijuana.
Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program: Patient Experiences from the First Program Year by the MN Department of Health 2016.
http://www.health.state.mn.us/topics/cannabis/about/appendixa.pdf
108.-Parkinsons.pdf
Other states already approve of medical marijuana for Parkinson's Disease.
Including: Georgia, Vermont, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Ohio, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and California
http://www.google.com/patents/US6630507 


111.-Tourette's-Syndromequalifying.pdf
Tourette’s Syndrome is an approved medical marijuana qualifying condition in Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio. While the MMMA covers persistant and severe Muscle Spasms, Tourette's Syndrome sufferers may not have the severe symptoms that qualify.
The 1999 Institute of Medicine report states that marijuana can be used to treat Tourettes
Syndrome.

112.-MMRP-Autism-Petition-2qualifying.pdf
Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Program lists Autism as a qualifying condition.
There are two clinical trials for Autism and cannabis in 2017:
Cannabinoids for Behavioral Problems in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Double Blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled Trial With Crossover.
Cannabidivarin (CBDV) vs. Placebo in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
https://nccih.nih.gov/health/autism
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5473390/
Safety and Efficacy of Medical Cannabis Oil for Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: An-Open Label, Add-On, Pilot Study.
An Open Label Study of the Use of Dronabinol (Marinol) in the Management of Treatment-Resistant Self-Injurious Behavior in 10 Retarded Adolescent Patients
 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4648553/
 
 
DOWNLOAD ALL PETITIONS ONLY (34MB)
DOWNLOAD ALL PETITIONS AND SUPPORTING STUDIES HERE (1.7GB)

Effective Monday, February 26, 2018. the Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation will begin operating at its new location at2407 North Grand River, Lansing, Michigan.  Applications for a state operating license for a marihuana facility will no longer be accepted at 611 West Ottawa Street. Those applications and payments for application fees and regulatory assessments will be accepted at the new location between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.  To allow time for processing, please arrive no later than 4:30 p.m.
Applications for the medical marihuana program will not be accepted on-site.  Individuals should follow the instructions provided on the application for registry identification card and mail the completed form, required supporting documentation, and fee (if applicable) to the address provided on the form.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
LARA is an equal opportunity employer/program.  
Auxiliary aids, services and other reasonable accommodations are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. 
 
For more information about LARA, please visit www.michigan.gov/medicalmarihuana
Follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/michiganLARA
“Like” us on Facebook or find us on YouTube www.youtube.com/michiganLARA
 

Hey guys! Sorry if this is in the wrong area but I’m a bit worried... LARA received my application and money order on Feb. 17, and it still hasn’t been cashed as of today (the 24th.) Is this unusual? Everything I’ve read says they want to cash it ASAP and usually do within 2-4 days of receiving. Anyone know what’s up? Thanks! 

Medical marijuana used to treat autism-related disorders

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Abigail Dar’s son, Yuval, is 24-years-old, and she says he is severely autistic.
Mollie Ryckman Barrett’s youngest daughter, Sumer, is 13-years-old and has Asperger Syndrome. This is the story of two moms looking for answers to help their children.
"Medication helps, at times. Sumer, who is doing well in seventh grade, takes two of them," Barrett said. “One helps her focus with her brain and one relaxes her brain a little bit.”
Always, though, there is the nagging worry. “How safe really is the medication we are giving our children today?” asked Barrett.
Dar gave her autistic son higher and higher doses of pharmaceutical prescription medications for years in a bid to control his anxiety and aggressiveness.
Dar complained, “They just give medication hoping it will give an answer, which it doesn’t, and I get my kid crazier and crazier.”    
Amid that frustration, Dar had an alternative within reach. 
“Israel is much more liberal regarding medical cannabis,” Dar said.  
Dar spoke from her home outside Tel Aviv, Israel, where she is at the forefront of medical marijuana research. “I gave him (Yuval) his first dose and it was a miracle,” she remembered.   
The dose she talked about was a strain of medical cannabis she and her son’s psychiatrist settled on after trial and error. Yuval became calmer, less anxious, more attentive.
“It’s a game changer,” Abigail said, “it gave us quality of life.”
Barrett said she wants the same opportunity for her daughter, but their home in West Palm Beach, Florida is far removed from the access, and attitudes, available in Israel.
“We should have a right to decide in our home what is in the best interest of our children, what is the safest alternative option for them,” Barrett said. 
She said she hopes to someday use cannabis derived oils for Sumer, but her child’s doctor does not agree with the idea. “He just says,” Barrett recalled, “that he doesn’t feel it’s a safe option and she seems OK on her medicine and there really are no side effects.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not support medical marijuana use for autism-related disorders. One big issue, experts say, is the fact that there are many strains of cannabinoids in marijuana.
Dr. Norina Ocampo is a South Florida pediatrician. “The other issue is they think probably all these compounds work synergistically with each other to help, so how do you pick which one will be the right compound,” she said. 
Dar is working with Israeli doctors, pushing for much more extensive research on that prime question. “Today we have over 300 kids having access to medical cannabis,” she said. 
 
https://www.kshb.com/news/health/autism-and-medical-marijuana-
Medical marijuana used to treat autism-related disorders
Michael Williams
9:56 PM, Feb 5, 2018
2:03 PM, Feb 6, 2018