Special Needs and Weed

[Anonymous]

If your SN teen started using weed regularly, how did it turn out? Do you think it affected them positively or negatively? How did you or their doctor handle SSRIs? Driving? Misinformation they found on social media? Did send them to rehab? If so, did they use rehab to broaden their supply network? Do you have any advice for parents trying to navigate this?

[Anonymous]

Educate yourself on this. It's really dangerous and causes psychosis.

[Anonymous]

Meh, if it helps then fine. Often alternatives are no better

[Anonymous]

https://johnnysambassadors.org/
This woman started an organization educating people about the dangers of today's marijuana. Her son died of suicide because of marijuana.

[Anonymous]

https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/teens-any-cannabis-use-may-have-impact-emotional-health-academic-performance

Please educate yourself: "In the study, adolescents who used cannabis once or twice a month reported higher rates of depression-like symptoms, anxiety, and impulsive behavior than those who abstained. Near-daily users were almost four times as likely to have poor grades and were frequently disengaged from school activities. These associations were even stronger for younger cannabis users."

[Anonymous]

My son Joe was an average to good student, Varsity level baseball player, and golfer in High School. He was kind, sensitive and thoughtful of others. Fast forward to his sophomore year in high school. He began using marijuana at 15 years old. Unprompted, he recently sat down and wrote about the impact that his “weed” use has had on him.

This is what he wrote, “I am a schizophrenic. I used to smoke weed. Weed is awful. If you keep on smoking it every day, it takes you away from yourself and turns you into someone else. And you become addicted to it. It made me: anxious, paranoid, delusional, and it caused burn out. It’s a dangerous drug. I don’t want to smoke it anymore. These days I stay away from it because it scares me. It’s all I wanted to do before school, after school, at night. It was all I spent my money on. I went from getting Bs and Cs in school to getting Ds and Fs. It was all I thought about, “Who am I gonna get it from? How will I get the money?”

Weed made me paranoid. I thought people were trying to frame me for a crime I didn’t commit. I thought I was under surveillance. I was 21 and 22 years old. Weed made me think that people were talking about me behind my back. I began to become psychotic, and I would take my problems and others’ problems out on my mom. I wasn’t nice to her. I hurt her. Now, I’m forever sorry for it.”

“If I could go to every Junior High and High School in the world, I would tell them all, “Do not start cannabis. It is not a good friend to have.”

I can tell you, with certainty, this is happening to families across Massachusetts and across the country. Loved ones are being held hostage by their daily cannabis use, which escalates to severe psychosis. That is followed by experiences of rotating in and out of acute psychiatric hospitalizations and ends as unsuccessful admissions due to the awful struggling and inability to let go of their daily cannabis use.

The public needs to know that this can happen, and families need help finding effective dual-diagnosis services and treatment that address both the cannabis addiction and the psychosis.

[Anonymous]

It's not super well known or studied. TBH it's the least of the vices. I know this is different that what previous posters are saying, but I personally wouldn't lose sleep over this one. Mostly would want a psychiatrist to know and to probe if there's self medicating occuring or if what. Ideally they wouldn't need or want it but ideally the world would be easier to navigate as SN.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your SN teen started using weed regularly, how did it turn out? Do you think it affected them positively or negatively? How did you or their doctor handle SSRIs? Driving? Misinformation they found on social media? Did send them to rehab? If so, did they use rehab to broaden their supply network? Do you have any advice for parents trying to navigate this?

Calmer and better able to regulate irritability and anger, decreased threats and assault until finally extinguished. Decrease in focus, short and long term memory, and caring about others’ needs and emotions (human, canine). Increased paranoia, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Decreased exercise, no interest in real food (just snacks/sugar), active avoidance of appointments/schoolwork.

Psych was aware of med refusals and all drugs/alcohol, and they chose meds that would interact the least.

I instituted 2 hour sobriety windows before every driving appointment with constant line of sight. When i found out that a cart was taken and smoked anyway, i removed the permit.

Social media, TikTok, friends and extended family all stated that addiction to marijuana is impossible… despite arranging 1-1 discussions with a prosecutor, police officer, substance abuse counselor, and neurologist, teen was still sure that they were only saying what i paid them to say.

Due to our state and my status as guardian, not parent, teen had to consent to in patient evaluation or be ordered by a judge. I tried for both mental health and substance abuse evaluation, but i was effectively told that as long as they were able to converse coherently, weren’t obviously high, and agreed to take meds (even if lying), no evaluation would ever be ordered. Judge told me to stop trying both avenues and file a police report for any further assaults.

I’m not sure what was due to personality and what were side effects of 5+ times daily usage for 2-4 years by age 16 when i was appointed as guardian. While i definitely appreciated that the assaults stopped eventually (coinciding with heavier usage, and i was told that strain was changed), no, there’s no way i consider it beneficial to the teen. I also don’t know how much is attributable to weed interacting with various mental health diagnoses and several meds.

[Anonymous]

OP, what in the world? Are you asking because your child is smoking regularly or because you want them to smoke? I have done weed many times and it’s not something to mess with. The wrong batch or having it laced can really mess you up. Being too high is very scary. I would never allow my child, special needs or not to smoke weed.

[Anonymous]

Marijuana makes people stupid.

I don't know why it would be different for a SN kid.

My friend's kid who had ADHD and depressive tendencies used it to self-medicate. Flunked out of college. Was pulled over by cops with opened pot in the car once. He finally seems to have decided not to be a failson after graduating from high school 5 years ago. The family does have mental health issues...the aunt is bipolar. The kid is no longer actively using as far as his parents know. He does live at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what in the world? Are you asking because your child is smoking regularly or because you want them to smoke? I have done weed many times and it’s not something to mess with. The wrong batch or having it laced can really mess you up. Being too high is very scary. I would never allow my child, special needs or not to smoke weed.

You would be surprised how many parents are permissive. And then you would be shocked how many parents don't realize carts are actually weed. Many kids convince them they are "just" vapes or holding it for a friend.

[Anonymous]

Lots of bad information and scare mongering here. Compared to any other mind altering substance cannabis is the least of your worries. I would concede that sobriety is better than not BUT sobriety that requires the kind of draconian control tactics listed by some parents above is far worse than using cannabis. For all of the hyper-vigilance about the very small chance that cannabis will cause issues there seems to be zero awareness that treating your child like a pariah or a crack head just for using cannabis can most certainly also result in anxiety and damage. Weird blind spot.

[Anonymous]

not bad information. Most users will not develop uncontrollable vomiting or psychosis, but both are risks. The undermining of motivation and memory are quite common, but I'd course, not universal.

Alcohol can be better if not used to get drunk, but alcohol abuse is more dangerous than marijuana habit in many ways.

[Anonymous]

This is the equivalent of McDonalds and ALDI’s potato chips for my Asperger son.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your SN teen started using weed regularly, how did it turn out? Do you think it affected them positively or negatively? How did you or their doctor handle SSRIs? Driving? Misinformation they found on social media? Did send them to rehab? If so, did they use rehab to broaden their supply network? Do you have any advice for parents trying to navigate this?

Calmer and better able to regulate irritability and anger, decreased threats and assault until finally extinguished. Decrease in focus, short and long term memory, and caring about others’ needs and emotions (human, canine). Increased paranoia, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Decreased exercise, no interest in real food (just snacks/sugar), active avoidance of appointments/schoolwork.

Psych was aware of med refusals and all drugs/alcohol, and they chose meds that would interact the least.

I instituted 2 hour sobriety windows before every driving appointment with constant line of sight. When i found out that a cart was taken and smoked anyway, i removed the permit.

Social media, TikTok, friends and extended family all stated that addiction to marijuana is impossible… despite arranging 1-1 discussions with a prosecutor, police officer, substance abuse counselor, and neurologist, teen was still sure that they were only saying what i paid them to say.

Due to our state and my status as guardian, not parent, teen had to consent to in patient evaluation or be ordered by a judge. I tried for both mental health and substance abuse evaluation, but i was effectively told that as long as they were able to converse coherently, weren’t obviously high, and agreed to take meds (even if lying), no evaluation would ever be ordered. Judge told me to stop trying both avenues and file a police report for any further assaults.

I’m not sure what was due to personality and what were side effects of 5+ times daily usage for 2-4 years by age 16 when i was appointed as guardian. While i definitely appreciated that the assaults stopped eventually (coinciding with heavier usage, and i was told that strain was changed), no, there’s no way i consider it beneficial to the teen. I also don’t know how much is attributable to weed interacting with various mental health diagnoses and several meds.

Your child should not be driving.