A new study published in Scientific Reports finds that autistic adults who use inhaled cannabis report large short-term reductions in core and co-occurring symptoms.
The research was conducted by scientists from Washington State University and the University of New Orleans using anonymized data from the Strainprint journaling app.
The analysis included 111 self-identified autistic adults, ages 19 to 70, who collectively logged 5,932 cannabis sessions between July 2017 and August 2023. Participants tracked symptoms such as sensory sensitivity, repetitive behaviors, problems with mental control, anxiety and irritability before and after using inhaled cannabis products with lab-verified THC and CBD levels.
Across all symptom clusters, average severity scores fell by 73.09% from immediately before to shortly after cannabis use. Sensitivity ratings dropped by 68.09%, repetitive behaviors by 70.41%, mental control problems by 68.59% and negative affect (anxiety and irritability) by 75.78%. In 98.33% of all tracked sessions, symptoms were reported as improved rather than unchanged or worse. People who started with more severe symptoms tended to report the largest reductions.
Dose mattered more than cannabinoid ratios. Higher numbers of puffs predicted greater reductions in repetitive behaviors, mental control problems and negative affect, but the percentages of THC and CBD in the products were not tied to the size of the effect. Older adults reported somewhat larger improvements in sensory symptoms. On average, people did not escalate their dose over time.
At the same time, baseline ratings of repetitive behaviors and negative affect slowly increased across sessions, suggesting that while cannabis may offer short-term relief, ongoing use to manage these problems could be linked with a gradual worsening or changing perception of those symptoms. The authors caution that the study relied on self-identified diagnoses, self-reported ratings and lacked a control group, and they say placebo-controlled clinical trials in autistic adults are still needed to clarify benefits, risks and optimal cannabinoid profiles.
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