Medical marijuana for autism? Dad says early signs are promising

A local dad says he’s seen a marked difference in his daughter’s autism since beginning use of medical marijuana.

Jeremy Haloskie of Albrightsville has 5-year-old twins with autism. He has sought different treatments to reduce their symptoms.

He recently decided to become one of the first people in Pennsylvania certified as a caregiver to provide medical marijuana to a loved one, a decision that he said is paying off for his children.

“I absolutely recommend it for the treatment of autism. I’ve seen incredible results,” he said.

Twins Cora and TJ were diagnosed with autism around age 2. At the time Cora, whose symptoms are more severe, would exhibit meltdowns where she would be inconsolable sometimes up to two hours.

“Sometimes that happened multiple times per day and you also had mini-meltdowns mixed in there. So it was a very difficult process,” he said.

He didn’t consider medical marijuana as an option for his children until state lawmakers released their list of disorders which are approved to be treated with medical marijuana.

Like many parents with autism, he and his wife have tried applied behavioral analysis. It has resulted in some verbal ability, but the gains are slow and hard fought.

There has not been a lot of research done about autism and medical marijuana, but Haloskie said he was intrigued by what he saw available. He was also intrigued by the fact that marijuana represents a natural approach to treating his children’s autism.

“Personally I believe in a mix of holistic and traditional medicines and methods. I like to bridge both worlds in that respect,” he said.

For the prescription, he went to a doctor in the Lehigh Valley, Charles Harris.

He had to travel to Cure Dispensary in Lancaster County in order to get the marijuana product he was looking for with his children. He said he was looking for a particular oil with equal concentrations of THC and CBD, the active ingredients in marijuana.

He had traveled to Keystone Canna Remedies in Bethlehem previously but they were out of the particular product.

“When I’m dealing with my children, I’d rather have the right medicine than any medicine off the shelf,” he said.

So far, the treatment has been effective. Haloskie said Cora has gone from 12-15 meltdowns per day to about one. Her repetitive behavior is down about 80 percent.

He’s shared his experience online with other parents whose children have autism. He said their response has been overwhelmingly positive.

Parents of children with autism are constantly looking for new ways to treat the illness, so there isn’t really any stigma toward trying something like medical marijuana. Parents have been contacting Haloskie to track his progress and see if it’s right for their child.

“It’s a situation where, anything that can provide us with help, or relief, we’ll always look into. We’ll bring an open mind,” he said.