Every morning, I start my day with a cup of coffee as I sort my emails from healthcare professionals ,social workers, attorneys, and families in need according to time zones…so basically, I wake up between 4 to 9 hours behind by default of living in California.

When you are a family in need of answers, time becomes the ultimate waiting game. So, I became the parent I needed when I had to make this same choice for my child on the autism spectrum 11 years ago when he was 9 years old.

The 6th sense I have made my “superpower” is “hearing” my emails, in the same tone I had when a community of cannabis pioneers answered my calls and gave me more time with my son.

Every day I pay it forward honoring my son Joey’s legacy, as I open my emails the global journey begins...


Today my morning starts in Spain,

(Names have been changed to protect the family's privacy.)

Hola Hester, recibe un saludo afectuoso y mucha admiración por los resultados que has logrado con tus hijos. Yo tengo un sobrino de 12 años autista que se llama Mario, él es muy agresivo con su madre y la hermana, las agrede constantemente.

La familia está desesperada y se les fue de las manos. El niño este super medicado pero no hay progreso, al contrario retrocedió más.
no habla bien, no mantiene la mirada, mueve los brazos, se orina en la cama de noche, es grosero, rompe todo si no le dan lo que quiere. Ya ha mandado un par de veces a la madre al hospital por los golpes que le ha dado.

Nos podrías ayudar y recomendar, que tratamiento hacer con la marihuana, o si conoces algun especialista en España? te lo agradecemos desde nuestro corazón. Familia de España posdata: estoy usando traductor de Google.
gracias....

Hello Hester, warm greetings and much admiration for the results you have achieved with your children. I have a 12-year-old autistic nephew named Mario, he is very aggressive towards his mother and sister, he constantly attacks them.

The family is desperate, and it got out of hand. The child is super medicated but there is no progress, on the contrary he regressed more. He does not speak well, does not hold his gaze, moves his arms, urinates in bed at night, is rude, breaks everything if they do not give him what he wants.

He has already sent the mother to the hospital a couple of times because of the blows he has given her. Could you help us and recommend what treatment to do with marijuana, or if you know any specialist in Spain? We thank you from our hearts. Family from Spain.

postscript: I am using google translate. Thank you....

By the afternoon, the emails start coming from California,

Hi Mieko, my name is Linda. I have been doing research on kids and cannabis and I ran across your story. It really touched my heart. I am an African American woman with a kid with autism and previous diagnosis of depression.

My son was sent to a local psych center and within 30 mins they wanted to put my son on Prozac. I did my research on Prozac and said I would rather not give him that. All though my child suffers from depression and anxiety I refuse to medicate him.

I want my son back but after researching the effects of Prozac I would rather not use that drug. Cannabis is something natural and after more research on it I want to see if this, will work for James.

Can you please give me steps to follow to see if my child is fit for cannabis? I live in Inglewood California. I live around a lot of medicinal dispensaries. I just do not know the right approach. Thank you so much for your time. Bless you and your family. Linda

By midafternoon here comes New York…

I found your website while doing some research. Tony will be 18 years old in 10 days. He is considered to be fairly high functioning, but he is so thin, and he is extremely anxious and depressed.

I am desperate to try cannabis, but we live in New York state. I am afraid to buy on the street, but I am afraid that if I wait for it to be made legal here, it will never happen.

If I decide to try it, is eating it better than smoking it? I know the THC level will be unknown, but I cannot move to another state right now. I figure if it is not legal here in 2 more years, we will move to a state where I can legally obtain cannabis for him.

My daughter has chronic migraine syndrome, and I want her to try it, too. Anyway, thanks in advance for your answer. I know I am one of millions of desperate parents out here...

-Pam

And as the afternoon turns to evening, here comes Germany.

Hi,

My name is Brian and I work as a Behavior Therapist/ consultant here in Germany for the past 15 years. I truly believe to treat autism you have to think outside of the box and use multiple tools to help fight autism.

I am working with lots of children and I suggest to all of them to go online and read about CBD oil. I have to be careful not to get in trouble with my job. My parents are buying CBD oil from Amazon but they are lost in terms of dosage. We have questions if this is the right way to go.

In Switzerland, they just legalized the sale and use of a plant called … which has 7.2% CBD and no THC. But the parents are skeptical to drive down, buy, and try it. I for sure have one family that would be willing to pay for a consultation.

Possibly a second family as well. Our questions would be along the lines of Should we grow our own plants? Which strains? Do you recommend plants with both THC and CBD? Wish you a great day. Please let me know how we can get this started. All my kids need cannabis :-) Lots of greetings Brian.

And the last email before dinner comes from Belgium.

I read the story of your son and was amazed to see that you needed to try out more than 10 strains before you found the right one ... I feel the story will be similar for my husband.

I tried to connect several times with cultivators that you have mentioned in your interviews…in vain… that is why I ask you for some advice. I am from Belgium.

My husband had a score of 37 on 40 on the scale for autism (he is an Asperger). You cannot see he is autistic when you meet him, but he surely is!!

He worked his whole life on his own but now ... he developed a new invention: he rewrote the classical music notation in a modern way, for all degrees and it makes it possible to learn all the notes in less than 3 months!!! ... He is a bit of a genius.

But ... to bring this on the market he has to feel himself more comfortable in social situations. That is why I need CBD (THC + CBD??)

He also needs some more rest ... at night . He works 7/7 days, always very concentrated and cannot sleep at night very often ... to decompress is important for him.

Can you give me advice on certain strains?

- adult, workaholic, high concentration, sensitive, intelligent, and creative but ... feeling not comfortable in social life and too much stress in his head (one year he had an inflammation on his brains because of too much work) ... what kind of strain should I use?

Thank you for your help.

I looked around already quite a lot but did not find something until now. I already gave him CBD from industrial hemp, CBD raw, 5 % bought in a bottle (variety unknown) and THC/CBD from an unknown strain of cannabis ... he seems not to like it and most of the time ,this means it does not suit him well ...

Sincerely,

My husband’s wife

The Global Connection

The pathway to utilize this treatment option is in need of a standardized protocol that is not limited to the America’s. As the industry continues to be a topic of responsibility among healthcare professionals it behooves them to find practical solutions for patients everywhere.

Here are a few organizations, I would encourage you to become involved in.