Posted on 07/30/2014 10:40:11 AM PDT by ConservingFreedom
Doctors in Macon, Georgia, told Janea Cox that her daughter, Haleigh, might not live another three months.
That was the middle of March, when Haleigh's brain was being short-circuited by hundreds of seizures a day, overrunning the array of five potent drugs meant to control them. Worse, the drugs were damaging Haleigh's organs.
"She was maxed out," Cox said. "She'd quit breathing several times a day, and the doctors blamed it on the seizure medications."
Cox had heard that a form of medical marijuana might help, but it wasn't available in central Georgia. So a week after hearing the ominous diagnosis, she and Haleigh packed up and moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado. There, Haleigh began a regimen of cannabis oil: four times a day and once at night.
By summer, she was down to just a handful of seizures a day. In less than three months, doctors were able to wean her off Depakote, a powerful medication that had been damaging her liver.
Haleigh had never been able to walk or talk. But freed from seizures in Colorado, "She said 'Mama' for the first time," Cox said. "She's playing with puzzles; she's walking. She's almost being a normal child."
Despite all the good news, Cox is living in limbo. Her husband, a paramedic, couldn't afford to leave his job and pension; he still lives and works in Forsyth, Georgia. The family is relying on charity to keep their Colorado apartment for the next few months; beyond that, the future is uncertain.
A bill being introduced Monday in the U.S. House of Representatives could be Cox's ticket home. The three-page bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act -- the federal law that criminalizes marijuana -- to exempt plants with an extremely low percentage of THC, the chemical that makes users high.
If passed, it would be the first time that federal law allows any medical marijuana use.
"No one should face a choice of having their child suffer or moving to Colorado and splitting up their family," said Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pennsylvania, the bill's sponsor. "We live in America, and if there's something that would make my child better, and they can't get it because of the government, that's not right."
The bill will land in a Congress that may be open to change. Across the country, highly sympathetic patients and a nonintoxicating product have proved a popular mix. This year alone, 11 states have passed legislation loosening regulation of cannabis strains with high cannabidiol and/or minimal THC content.
In this atmosphere, Perry says that once members and their staffs are brought up to speed, he expects the bill to attract "overwhelming" support.
"It wouldn't be surprising if we see broad support for this proposal," agreed Mason Tvert, communications director at the Marijuana Policy Project, which advocates for marijuana and medical marijuana legalization. "If this bill gets support, it will demonstrate that there is recognition of marijuana's medical benefits."
Dubbed the Charlotte's Web Medical Hemp Act of 2014, the bill is named after Charlotte Figi, a young Colorado girl whose parents have campaigned nationwide for easier access to medical marijuana after successfully controlling their daughter's seizures with cannabis oil. Since her story became known, a growing number of parents have flocked to Colorado, hoping for similar success.
The Charlotte's Web cannabis strain, developed by the Realm of Caring nonprofit organization in Colorado Springs, is in high demand, in part because of the attention it's received in the media. Many families wait months for a batch to be grown and processed into cannabis oil. Perry's bill, however, would apply to any cannabis strain with a THC content of less than 0.3%.
Charlotte's Web and similar strains not only have minimal THC, they have high levels of cannabidiol, another chemical. A growing body of anecdotal evidence suggests that cannabidiol can effectively control seizures, though there are no published studies to support its use.
It's easy to find critics who say parents should follow a more traditional route.
"There is no evidence for marijuana as a treatment for seizures," Rep. John Fleming, R-Louisiana, a physician, claimed during a congressional hearing last month. "We hear anecdotal stories, and that's how myths come about."
Fleming and others point out that a pharmaceutical version of cannabidiol oil, called Epidiolex, is being tested in clinical trials. But many children aren't able to get into the trials. Haleigh Cox is disqualified because she has type-1 diabetes. Others aren't willing to wait several months to be enrolled.
"With Epidiolex, there just aren't enough seats at the table," said Mark Knecht, a father from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, whose story helped inspire Perry's bill.
His daughter Anna, 11, has epilepsy and suffers anywhere from a handful of seizures a day to more than 100, despite her four anti-convulsant medications. Knecht, the chief financial officer of a large Christian medical nonprofit, says Anna has been evaluated at several top hospitals but couldn't land a spot in the Epidiolex trial.
Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books allowing medical marijuana for a variety of conditions. But even as states rewrite their regulations, federal law remains the same: Marijuana is illegal to grow, sell or use for any purpose. Under the 1970 Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is listed on Schedule 1, meaning it has "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." To backers of reform, the Catch-22 is familiar: Marijuana is restricted in large part because there is little research to support medical uses; research is difficult to conduct because of tight restrictions.
A series of memos from the Justice Department has said that arresting individual medical marijuana users is not a priority, and a 2013 memo added that federal prosecutors should not target large commercial operations except on a case-by-case basis. But most observers say that shipping or transporting the drug across state lines ups the ante.
"For families like us, the biggest issue is the federal issue. You can't take it across state lines," Knecht explained.
His family still lives in Mechanicsburg. But after seeing CNN's medical marijuana documentary last year, Anna and her mother, Deb, established residency in Colorado, where they obtained a medical marijuana card that let them place an order for a batch cannabis oil, in hopes it will control Anna's seizures. If Perry's bill becomes law, Knecht says, "Realm of Caring could just put it in a FedEx package."
There are a lot of high paying jobs in the oil and gas industry in CO right now. Just sayin'.
I saw that same young man on TV. His condition looked painful. He had a boatload of prescription drugs that weren’t helping. Keep in mind that you don’t have to smoke anything, vape pens (the same thing as e-cigarettes) are the thing to use to avoid harmful smoke.
What, the desire to be free and to make choices for oneself, instead of being told what we can and can't do under the false pretense of security? I thought that's what conservatives were about?
Don't forget the edibles, too!
No
The absence of rational thought. The absence of logic and coherence of argument.
Who is calling it a cure all? The truth is, there MAY be a lot of medicinal uses that, frankly, we don't know about due to a lack of study. We are only now learning of many of the benefits, but as a supporter, I'd say it's yet too early to call it a "cure all".
This entire propaganda piece is written as if the cannabis oil has controlled her seizures, is the only thing that could work.
It waits til the last sentence to tell the truth:
“they obtained a medical marijuana card that let them place an order for a batch cannabis oil, in hopes it will control Anna’s seizures”
They have no idea if it will even help.
This is sad exploitation of a family, using the daughter’s unfortunate condition to exploit and scam them.
Or it’s all a scam including the family, as has often been the case in propaganda pieces for “medical marijuana” but I am accepting it on face value that the family is honest and sincere and are victims, not participants.
Do you know anyone with a medical marijuana card?
A fresh plant tincture of ditch weed is useful for glaucoma and has no psychoactive properties in it. Perhaps it would work for you. If you can find the ditch weed the most expensive part will be the alcohol.
It will. I've watched it stop a seizure cold. I've a friend with these issues. He and I did some informal experimentation. He knew when a seizure was coming on, so we'd wait one out, let it run its course. The next, he would medicate. He could be right on the cusp of the seizure, and medicating it would stop the seizure dead in its tracks, every single time. This has also been documented quite a bit. believe me, if you experienced it first hand, you'd be surprised that your current suppositions are based on entirely false premises.
Quite a few folks, actually. I don't personally have one. Just because something is legal, doesn't mean you hafta partake, and I choose not to. However, I've personally witnessed the medicinal effects in a number of friends and acquaintances, for a variety of symptons/illnesses.
You remind me of my wife. I’ve never met someone who was so entirely opposed it, no matter what. Then one day, she sat and watched a friend of mine. She’s now a full on believer. 180 degrees, once she actually opened up enough to see exactly what it can do, particularly for someone with seizures, and potentially for the war scarred vets returning with PTSD and such.
“And it’s expensive. A pound of good bud runs $2,500 to $3,000 in the Bay Area, and Finley delivers to anywhere in California. Aldrich says a three-month regimen cost her $1,200 a month; Finley charges $5,500 for a two-month cycle”
As far as the family moving to CO.
Here’s the thing. This entire article is bogus.
It is conceivable marijuana could help her seizures.
All her family, or anyone, would need to do is get some dope, extract the cannabinoids by sautéing in butter or oil and make cookies or brownies for her.
No need to move to CO. No need for expensive “oil”.
Maybe it would help. Probably not, if her seizures are as bad an non-responsive to current approved drugs.
But who knows.
But this is propaganda, we can know that.
The legality factor would be the reason. Not really a need to MOVE, per se, but to keep it on the 'legal' side, I can see the reasoning to come to Colorado.
As for the oil, it's quite simple to make, and isn't expensive. The recipe was actually given above. You're right in that edibles would be the way to go, for a child. I wouldn't advocate having them smoke it.
Based on experience, I’d say that a 2 month regimen of oil could be had for quite a lot less than several thousand. A few hundred, perhaps, and maybe even getting close to 1000, but in reality, for $1,000 I could make several month’s worth.
I am not opposed to it no matter what.
I grew up in this milieu.
I know dope and dope heads and was there when this movement started. I was for it when it began.
It is a liberal scam and I hate seeing conservatives not from the liberal left regions be snookered by this scam of medical marijuana that I have now been exposed to my entire life.
They say for cancer it must be very concentrated. Hence the large amount of potent bud used for the extraction.
It’s a scam I hate seeing.
Modern day snake oil that gives false hope.
I don't have glaucoma.
I know. You were looking for a cannabis medication so I thought I would mention it. Never mind.
I really don't see it as liberal or conservative. I know that the movement began with the hippie libs, I get it, but the proof is in the pudding. There are people out there that claim it worked for their cancer. I can't speak to cancer, as I've not seen it personally. I have, however, seen it work very well for seizures, as well as for mental issues/imbalance. It's amazing and works extremely effectively, and I don't care what any liberal or conservative says about it. What I've seen with my own eyes, I know to be true.
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