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I wonder if a medical study for something like this would be feasible. Finding enough parents willing to let their autistic kids participate would be challenge

I wonder if a medical study for something like this would be feasible. Finding enough parents willing to let their autistic kids participate would be challenge enough. But on top of that they would all have to live in California, where you can get the legal pot license, and the study would have to performed without causing a big uproar in the community. Sounds like it would be quite challenging, but not necessarily infeasible.

electromagnetic 17y ago
Medical studies don't need to be declared to the public, all they'd need to do is contact the doctors who already prescribe medical marijuana and ask them if they have any patients willing to participate. If you're contacting practitioners who already prescribe MM they're unlikely to speak out against the study, besides you could force non-disclosure agreements on participants. It's kind of morally-grey, but if there's big enough concern about getting shut down then you'll get enough people willing to sign an NDA in the chance they might be able to help their child. This wouldn't be the sort of study you stick an ad for in the sunday paper.
Alex3917 17y ago
"But on top of that they would all have to live in California, where you can get the legal pot license, and the study would have to performed without causing a big uproar in the community." IIRC it doesn't matter what state the research is done in once the study gets approval from the federal government, which is needed anyway. That's why they're allowed to do psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins. (Which they still need about 70 more volunteers for; if anyone wants to participate, check out csp.org.)
jbr 17y ago
As far as I remember from an undergraduate degree in psychology, autistic parents are some of the most willing to try experimental approaches. Autism is incredibly difficult for everyone involved and parents are often desperate to find something that works. As far as having to happen in a state w/ medical marijuana, I also don't think that's necessarily true. Human research on controlled substances is pretty common, but requires the researcher to get past a lot of DEA & institutional HSRC paperwork. That's how the research that supports medical marijuana was performed in the first place. Amazingly, a google scholar search for marijuana (or thc) and autism turns up nothing relevant. Really? It's amazing how little we know.

electromagnetic 17y ago

Medical studies don't need to be declared to the public, all they'd need to do is contact the doctors who already prescribe medical marijuana and ask them if they have any patients willing to participate. If you're contacting practitioners who already prescribe MM they're unlikely to speak out against the study, besides you could force non-disclosure agreements on participants. It's kind of morally-grey, but if there's big enough concern about getting shut down then you'll get enough people willing to sign an NDA in the chance they might be able to help their child. This wouldn't be the sort of study you stick an ad for in the sunday paper.

Alex3917 17y ago

"But on top of that they would all have to live in California, where you can get the legal pot license, and the study would have to performed without causing a big uproar in the community." IIRC it doesn't matter what state the research is done in once the study gets approval from the federal government, which is needed anyway. That's why they're allowed to do psilocybin research at Johns Hopkins. (Which they still need about 70 more volunteers for; if anyone wants to participate, check out csp.org.)

jbr 17y ago

As far as I remember from an undergraduate degree in psychology, autistic parents are some of the most willing to try experimental approaches. Autism is incredibly difficult for everyone involved and parents are often desperate to find something that works. As far as having to happen in a state w/ medical marijuana, I also don't think that's necessarily true. Human research on controlled substances is pretty common, but requires the researcher to get past a lot of DEA & institutional HSRC paperwork. That's how the research that supports medical marijuana was performed in the first place. Amazingly, a google scholar search for marijuana (or thc) and autism turns up nothing relevant. Really? It's amazing how little we know.