Zelestia Velasco

English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

SLO Cover Letter

My rhetorical situation is the legalization of medical marijuana to benefit

patients with autism, the audience that I am trying to reach out to is the people
opposing my argument, and the purpose of my argument is to convince the audience
that medical marijuana should be used to treat people with autism. I want people to
really look and understand the pros and cons that I have laid out and make them
change their minds about medical marijuana.
I would like you to take a look at the way I go about arguing my point, and let
me know if I am coming off too strong and not open to questions or arguments
against my view. Also I am still having problems with my repetition and I feel as if
though I might be repeating myself with my points I am trying to make.
I have progressed with improving my fluency in the dialect of Standardized
Written American English at the level of a sentence, paragraph or document, by
learning how to fully start and end my sentences. I also feel as if citing my work
helped a lot with that. I have also progressed in integrating others perspectives and
positions into my own writing ethically, by really taking time to site my sources and
not trying to take their words and try to make them mine. I feel as if it is very
important to give people credit for their ideas. Lastly I have progressed in
composing a research-based academic argument in one of various mediums, which
must include secondary sources, by taking into account the opposing views and fully
respecting their views and not bashing on them.

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

I have always been very strongly opinionated about Cannabis and its medical
benefits. Being an older sister of a brother with autism, really gave me a different
perspective on Cannabis. Autism is a brain disorder in which communication and
interaction with others id difficult. I have seen the horrible side affects that the
medications given to autistic people can have. The problem is that not many people
are doing enough research on how helpful Cannabis can be medically, especially
with children and adults with Autism. Not much attention is paid to the people living
with Mental Disabilities and this makes it harder to be able to fully treat people with
Mental Disabilities. Yes, just as it is with everything else there are still arguments
against whether or not Cannabis actually helps with cases such as Autism.
The most common reasons for people that are against marijuana is that it is a
schedule one drug and also that it might promote other types of drug use. Also the
people that are against medical marijuana argue that it is addictive and doesnt
serve any medical purpose.
I feel like it is always good to figure out the opposing views of whatever it is
that you strongly believe. People are going to always going to have different
opinions, but I believe you should take them into consideration and try to
understand why someone has that certain view on something. There are some
opposing views against Medical Marijuana, because federally it is classified as a
schedule one drug. Lucas Eaves states that according to federal law a schedule one
drug is a drug that has high potential for abuse, has no accepted medical use, and
there is a lack of accepted safety for use of the substance. Many people do not agree

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

with medical marijuana due to it being a schedule one drug, and there is also a belief
that marijuana is a gateway drug, and will promote other types of drug use. Also a
lot of people are not very well educated when it comes to autism, and that is why
many people would not see it as a qualifying condition for medical marijuana.
I am pro medical marijuana, due to knowing that it can help relieve the
anxiety that comes along with autism. It also doesnt have the horrible side effects
that all the medications that are given with people with autism. Medical Marijuana
has so many benefits for people with Autism, and even doctors are starting to
realize all the benefits it has medically.
Being an older sister watching my brother grow up having to deal with
being bullied because he was different and not only that but having to see the
amount of medications he has to take on a daily since he was diagnosed, which was
about the age of six. It is very alarming to read some of the side affects that the
medications have. There are very many different forms of Autism so not every child
of adult who has Autism have the same form of it. And because there are so many
variations of Autism it is now called ASD, which is Autism spectrum disorder. There
is high-functioning Autism which is when the symptoms and signs of autism are less
severe. High-functioning Autism is also known as Aspergers syndrome, which is the
type of autism that my brother has. Low-functioning autism are at the more severe
end of the spectrum, people diagnosed with low-functioning autism have little
awareness of their surroundings. Very little research has been done with lowfunctioning autism, and dont have as many treatment options available.

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

The reason why cannabis has been proven to be an effective way to treat
autism is because researchers at Stanford University say that autism is caused by
gene mutation that blocks the bodys natural production of cannabinoids, called
endocannabinoids, which hinder the way the molecules communicate with the brain.
This is where Cannabis is now shown to me an effective way of treating Autism. Also
children and adults with Autism also have little to no appetite and this is also why
medical marijuana is being considered effective. Tetrahydrocannabinol also referred
to as THC which are part of the brains natural endocannabinoid system. The
endocannabinoid system control emotions, memory, and appetite, so therefore
helping Autistic people with increased appetite, and drive to do different activities.
One of the main problems mostly every Autistic person struggles with is
change in their routine. Change is already the number one cause of stress amongst
people. But people with Autism literally cannot not cope or handle change. A small
change in their routine and you can set them off and their aggression will get the best
of them. Medical Marijuana has showed an improvement with tantrums and has also
showed a decrease in seizures that some of the medications can cause. It also helps
autistic people be able to better communicate with other people around them,
because every person with autism lacks the social communication skills, therefore it
makes them very extremely uncomfortable to have a conversation with someone else.

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

Another factor to take into consideration is that due to the social anxiety that
people with autism have to deal with, they have to deal with bullying as well. And
because of not being able to communicate other people do realize something is
different about people with autism. I know this from personal experience too, seeing
my brother struggle with kids and teachers bullying him because he was different. I
strongly believe that medical marijuana should be used due to this fact as well. It is
hard for autistic adults and children to maintain friendships, and they dont feel
comfortable telling people they are autistic because they already feel like outsiders.
People really need to change their perception about medical marijuana,
because the way some people dont even take into consideration the medical side of
marijuana. Yes I understand why people dont agree with the recreational use of
marijuana, because people can be irresponsible with it, but there is also an organic
way to treat multiple diseases. Medical marijuana is not known to cause any diseases
that lead to death, which I feel as if people really take into consideration. The
medication people with autism take, such as The National Institute of Mental Health
lists the different prescription drugs and side effects that go along with treating
autism, such as ..[o]lanzapine and other anti-psychotic medications are used offlabel for the treatment of aggression and other serious behavioral disturbances in
children, including children with autism. Knowing this type of information people
should be alarmed and worried about the prescriptions they take, or give their
children. Prescription drugs are only meant to be used for short term, and that is why

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

doctors need to keep increasing the dosage because your body gets immune to the
medicine and needs more.
People need to wake up and actually do research on the stuff they are given by
doctors, because even though they are doctors it doesnt mean they are treating you
in the healthiest way possible. But I feel like now more doctors are looking to stop
the patients pain, but not necessarily make sure that they are healthy. But the way
they justify it is that there are many definitions and perceptions of what a healthy
person is. The medications that are prescribed to autistic people make them foggy
and unaware of their surroundings and they literally look like zombies. There are not
many doctors that have looked into autism, so many of them just give out prescription
drugs without fully knowing how each medication interacts with each other, which
can be very serious.
Autism should be a qualifying condition for the use of medical marijuana,
because it is such a big help for treating autism in the most organic way possible.
Medical marijuana relieves not only the anxiety part of autism, but also the
communication and aggression part. Medical marijuana completely wipes out all of
the prescription drugs that are prescribed for autistic people. It does not have any
serious side effects and as far as research knows it is not addictive. There are many
different ways medical marijuana has benefited autism and even though I have looked
at the opposing side the pros of medical marijuana for treating autism outweigh the
cons.

Zelestia Velasco
English 120
03-22-14
Ms.Diaz

Medical Marijuana and Its Benefits for Autism

"Controlled Substances Act (CSA)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 24 Mar.

2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act#Schedule_I_controlled_s
ubstances>.
"Why Is Marijuana a Schedule I Drug?" IVNus. 25 Apr. 2013. Web. 24 Mar.
2015. <http://ivn.us/2013/04/25/why-is-marijuana-a-schedule-i-drug/>.