more than a dozen states have app approved cannabis to treat autism, and for some it s the jackpot. ready? time for drops. but for others, it s a gamble. every day i give the medicine to my daughter is a potential for me ending up with a felony. what if it was your child? would you take the risk? an ancient plant to treat a mysterious disorder of the brain. this is weed 6: marijuana and autism. you re about to see kara s life. i do want to warn you, this will be hard to watch.
i think if you have this positive of a result you need to continue with this medicine for her. a medicine that keeps kara from hurting herself, but is also illegal in texas. there was a guilty feeling that i had that was associated, and there was also a fear of consequences. when kara turned 17 the zartlers decide they don t want to keep their secret anymore. they believe the only way to create change is to share her story. did anybody say don t do this? yes. who? everyone. everyone. family members? yeah, they all did. friends. because they were worried about the reaction consequences. it was, well, you will end up in jail over this.
it s busy and she needs cannabis to help her slow down and focus. mark gets her medication ready. i put a quarter teaspoon. he starts filling up what he calls kara s marijuana machine. it s a vapor. it heats up the cannabis flower turning it into a vapor which kara can inhale. it s the fastest way to get it into her system, they tell me. wait. kara is eager. look at her. she seems to know what is coming. ready? okay, let s mellow out. there you go. she starts to settle down. at one point even clapping. it s like, thank you, sir.
kara has severe autism. kara, stop it. stop. her fits are dangerous, frequent and disturbingly violent. i decided to journal all of her hitting. i started back in 2016. this is her mother, christie. we met up at their home in texas. closed fisted punches to her face. hold her down aggression and self injuryious. the chief of pediatric neurology. even children higher functioning will have self
to expand the law on it, to help terminal cancer and, yes, autism. it was a big step forward but the thc limits was too low to help families like the zartlers. what would you say to them? i would warn them what the ramifications are in the law, and as a mother myself i would move heaven and earth to make something better for my child if they were suffering. this session she s pushing to add more health conditions and raise the thc level from .5 to 5%. it s a bill the zartlers are watching very closely, because it would allow them to legally give that higher thc dose to kara. every day that i give the medicine to my daughter is a potential day for me ending up with a felony. the fight to keep their daughter, when we come back.