Medical Marijuana for Tourette Syndrome in Georgia

Does Tourette Syndrome Qualify for Medical Marijuana in Georgia?

For those who suffer from Tourette syndrome, daily life can be a struggle. Characterized by twitches or uncontrollable outbursts, Tourette syndrome develops during childhood and can become a debilitating condition that severely interferes with daily life activities. 

In Georgia, Tourette syndrome is an approved condition for medical marijuana when it is diagnosed as severe. 

Currently there is no cure for Tourette’s, and typically treatment plans will focus on treating the symptoms of the condition to improve quality of life and minimize tics or twitches brought on by the disorder. 

To date, there are no medications that have been proven to eliminate the symptoms of Tourette’s entirely, however medical marijuana has shown impressive results in effectively reducing the symptoms of Tourette syndrome naturally.

What is Tourette Syndrome?

Tourette’s syndrome, or TS, is a neurological disorder that causes repeated abnormal twitches or vocalizations called tics. For those who suffer from TS, tics can be as mild as habitually shrugging a shoulder, or as severe as blurting out offensive words at random frequencies and volumes. 

To be diagnosed with Tourette syndrome, patients must experience two or more motor tics, and at least one vocal tic. This makes Tourette’s a condition that can severely interfere with the quality of your life, and treating the symptoms of TS becomes an important lifelong pursuit. 

Tourette’s can develop in children and adolescents, but often symptoms are not apparent until around the age of 11, and males are around 4x more likely to develop TS than females. 

There are many treatment options available for the symptoms of Tourette’s, however many current pharmaceutical medications can have long lists of unpleasant ingredients, and longer lists of side effects. Including insomnia, headaches, anxiety, and loss of appetite, medications that are prescribed for Tourette’s can even include vision impairment, and in some cases, fever. 

Many people who suffer from Tourette’s syndrome look at medical marijuana as a viable treatment alternative, which does not include the negative side effects or ingredients that pharmaceutical drugs may contain.