Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Why Explore Cannabinoids as an Alternative to Sleep Medicine for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Dr. Mohsin Maqbool is a pediatric neurologist and sleep specialist based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. His work focuses on the intersection of neurodevelopment, sleep, and cannabinoid therapeutics in autism spectrum disorder. He is particularly interested in how cannabinoid formulations may influence sleep regulation, behavior, and quality of life in children with autism.
At CannMed 26, Mohsin will present “Autism, Sleep, and Medicinal Cannabis: Evaluating 18-Month Efficacy and Safety Outcomes”
During our conversation, we discuss:
- The gaps in current sleep medicine for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Results from Mohsin’s 18-month longitudinal study including improvements to total sleep time, sleep onset and maintenance, and overall quality of sleep
- The method of finding the effective dose for each patient
- Cannabinoids’ effect on the duration of REM sleep and what the daytime implications are
- Thinking of cannabis as a tool to supplement conventional ASD medications and not a replacement
- Future research directions - using wearables and EEG to investigate how cannabinoids affect sleep architecture and brain physiology, as well as using biomarkers to see whether patients are a good candidate for cannabinoid therapies
Thanks to This Episode’s Sponsor: The Society of Cannabis Clinicians
The Society of Cannabis Clinicians is a nonprofit professional association of physicians and other healthcare providers. It provides continuing education—for clinicians, patients, and all concerned about the medical use of cannabis and best practices in clinical care. SCC physicians have been monitoring cannabis use by patients for 20 years and have compiled a wealth of clinical evidence and treatment strategies that will be validated by clinical trials in the years ahead.
To learn more about SCC and to join visit cannabisclinicians.org.
Additional Resources
- Effects of Medical Cannabis Treatment for Autistic Children on Family Accommodation: An Open-Label Mixed-Methods Study - pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12563248
- [Book] Cannabis Is Medicine: How Medical Cannabis and CBD Are Healing Everything from Anxiety to Chronic Pain by Dr. Bonni Goldstein - amazon.com/Cannabis-Medicine-Medical-Healing-Everything/dp/031650078X
- Register for CannMed 26 - cannmedevents.com/package-options
- Meet the CannMed 26 Speakers - cannmedevents.com/speakers
- Review the Podcast - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cannmed-coffee-talk/id1504218804
- CannMed Archive - cannmedevents.com/cannmed-video-archives
Why Explore Cannabinoids as an Alternative to Sleep Medicine for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
Dr. Mohsin Maqbool is a pediatric neurologist and sleep specialist based in Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas. His work focuses on the intersection of neurodevelopment, sleep, and cannabinoid therapeutics in autism spectrum disorder. He is particularly interested in how cannabinoid formulations may influence sleep regulation, behavior, and quality of life in children with autism.
At CannMed 26, Mohsin will present “Autism, Sleep, and Medicinal Cannabis: Evaluating 18-Month Efficacy and Safety Outcomes”
During our conversation, we discuss:
- The gaps in current sleep medicine for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
- Results from Mohsin’s 18-month longitudinal study including improvements to total sleep time, sleep onset and maintenance, and overall quality of sleep
- The method of finding the effective dose for each patient
- Cannabinoids’ effect on the duration of REM sleep and what the daytime implications are
- Thinking of cannabis as a tool to supplement conventional ASD medications and not a replacement
- Future research directions - using wearables and EEG to investigate how cannabinoids affect sleep architecture and brain physiology, as well as using biomarkers to see whether patients are a good candidate for cannabinoid therapies
Thanks to This Episode’s Sponsor: The Society of Cannabis Clinicians
The Society of Cannabis Clinicians is a nonprofit professional association of physicians and other healthcare providers. It provides continuing education—for clinicians, patients, and all concerned about the medical use of cannabis and best practices in clinical care. SCC physicians have been monitoring cannabis use by patients for 20 years and have compiled a wealth of clinical evidence and treatment strategies that will be validated by clinical trials in the years ahead.
To learn more about SCC and to join visit cannabisclinicians.org.
Additional Resources
- Effects of Medical Cannabis Treatment for Autistic Children on Family Accommodation: An Open-Label Mixed-Methods Study - pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12563248
- [Book] Cannabis Is Medicine: How Medical Cannabis and CBD Are Healing Everything from Anxiety to Chronic Pain by Dr. Bonni Goldstein - amazon.com/Cannabis-Medicine-Medical-Healing-Everything/dp/031650078X
- Register for CannMed 26 - cannmedevents.com/package-options
- Meet the CannMed 26 Speakers - cannmedevents.com/speakers
- Review the Podcast - podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cannmed-coffee-talk/id1504218804
- CannMed Archive - cannmedevents.com/cannmed-video-archives
