Nearly two decades ago an autism diagnosis was somewhat uncommon. It was also considered to be a disorder that only, or mainly affected children. Autism is now the fastest-growing developmental disorder, and yet somehow the most underfunded. A 2008 Danish Study found that the mortality risk among those with autism was nearly twice that of the general population, those statistics are very alarming for us parents.

There are no pharmaceutical medications that can cure or treat the core symptoms of autism.

In addition to developmental disability, many with ASD live with conditions and core symptoms including intellectual disability, self-injurious behaviors, aggression, pain, SPD, apraxia, dyspraxia, epilepsy/seizures, mood/sleeping disorders, gastrointestinal/feeding disorders, inflammation, oxidative stress, and immune dysfunctions.

Autism can be viewed as an extremely complex set of medical conditions that are unique to each individual diagnosed, hence why it is a SPECTRUM condition. Underlying medical and comorbid conditions need to be addressed and not attributed to one's autism.

Of the existing qualifying conditions in Ohio, many of them are comorbidly implicated within Autism.

Including conditions such as PTSD, Tourettes, Seizures/Epilepsy, Chronic pain, TBI, Encephalopathy, IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, Chrons Disease, and neurological conditions like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Now, if autism is one condition entailing 10 out of the 21 qualifying conditions that are ALREADY approved for medical marijuana in Ohio, why is autism spectrum disorder NOT already a qualifying condition?