Hello Rayquaza: I see this is your first post here on PC. So... welcome to PsychCentral! I don't know if you plan to continue on with us or if you're just here seeking answers to this particular concern. However, if you plan to continue on... may I suggest you introduce yourself on the New Members Introductions forum? Here's a link:

https://forums.psychcentral.com/new-...introductions/

We here on PC can't diagnose your friend. Our purpose here is to provide one another with support & to share information & experiences. And I'm certainly no expert when it comes to autism either. But from what little bit I do know about it, what you describe does not sound like autism to me.

Could your friend's pot smoking have caused, or exacerbated, his troubling behavior? My personal, non-professional opinion is yes it certainly could. From my perspective... smoking pot, or using any other kinds of "street drugs", is sort-of like throwing gasoline on mental health issues. Perhaps your friend was struggling with some underlying mental health issues that he was able to control prior to his pot smoking. But smoking pot brought it all to a head, so to speak.

But then, of course, the other possibility here is simply that his personality is changing. From what you wrote, it sounds like he's probably a teenager. And one's teenage years can be a period of rapid & intense change. In the end, it's just difficult to know.

Unfortunately, there's not much of anything you can do to help him either. And, in fact, from the sound of things, perhaps he is becoming someone you would be best steering clear of. On the other hand, if you do want to continue being there for him, simply let him know you're available to talk about what's going in with him, should he ever want to. (From what you wrote, it doesn't sound as though that's likely.) Please keep in mind though that, in the end, you only have control over what you do. So you have to take care of yourself first. I wish you well...