Julie AitchesonSeptember 30, 2020
Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by communication and behavioral difficulties from minor to extremely severe. There is no medical cure for autism and much remains mysterious about the condition. There is no blood test or similarly straightforward means of diagnosis, and can often be missed for years or even a lifetime by a physician. Autism can express differently in every individual, with a broad range of symptoms and gradients of severity that can make treating symptoms even more challenging than gaining a diagnosis. Conventional treatments for symptoms of ASD, which include a variety of drugs to relieve seizures or behavioral and anxiety issues, often come with serious side effects of their own. While interventions like cognitive behavioral therapy and speech-language therapy can have a positive impact on outcomes for those with ASD, those with more severe conditions may require some form of medication. Yet again, the adverse side effects that come with these medications create an untenable Catch-22 for ASD patients and caregivers alike. Enter HOPE.
HOPE tinctures are the creation of Zelira Therapeutics and Erica Daniels, founder of Hope Grows for Autism, a nonprofit aimed at improving the lives of families affected by autism through research, education, and advocacy of natural treatments. Daniels is a proud partner of Zelira Therapeutics, which formed through a merger of Zelda and Ilera Therapeutics in 2019. As the mother of a child with severe autism, Daniels responded to years of traveling the country in an exhaustive but fruitless search for treatments for her son by forging her own path, using diet and medical cannabis to ensure a high quality of life for her son and family.
Through partnerships within the state of Louisiana, HOPE tinctures (which are specifically formulated with Autism Spectrum Disorder in mind) will be available exclusively through state-licensed medical marijuana dispensaries in the state to all patients and families bearing a doctor’s prescription. The tinctures will be available in two formulations, “HOPE1”, which is a 1:1 THC: CBD tincture, and “HOPE2”, a 5:1 THC: CBD tincture.
Louisiana ranks higher than the national average for the percentage of autism diagnoses per capita and recently passed legislation in the state allows all Louisiana patients and families to receive medical cannabis through a doctor’s prescription for any condition. This makes it a perfect staging ground for this new partnership between the HOPE line of medical cannabis tinctures, Lousiana’s Ilera Holistic Healthcare, and Southern University’s Agricultural Center, through which the tinctures are grown, cultivated, processed, and packaged. With the introduction of the specially formulated and research-based HOPE tinctures into medical marijuana dispensaries across Louisiana, Erica Daniels is excited to bring the benefits of cannabis to other constituents in the ASD community.
HOPE™ was formulated by Zelira Therapeutics a leading global therapeutic medical cannabis company with access to the world’s largest and fastest growing cannabis markets. The company’s focus is on developing branded cannabis products for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions including insomnia, autism and chronic non-cancer pain.
