One way in which cannabis undoubtedly proves its worth in medicine is through the testimonial effects it has on children who suffer from extreme seizures. Some children have thousands of seizures a month, and doctors desperately prescribe a constant oversupply of very expensive prescription medicine to help mitigate them. Luckily, cannabinoids have been found to help children with their seizures.
Because marijuana is still illegal under federal laws, universities and laboratories have a hard time testing and learning more about the plant and how it can help those with seizures. As of now, the best chance we have to learn about the healing aspects of marijuana is through our own experiences and the testimonies of those around us that we trust.
Enter Charlotte Figi vekttap, an American child who suffers from Dravet Syndrome. Dravet Syndrome starts within the first year of a child’s life and causes many different types of seizures which hamper cognitive functioning, cause motor deficits and behavioral disorders. Basically, a parent’s worse nightmare.
Charlotte was having an average of 300 seizures a week, despite being treated with the best prescription drugs available. After concluding that the medicine Charlotte was taking was not helping and something else needed to happen immediately, Charlotte’s parents decided it was time to try something different.
The Figi family decided to try medical marijuana, seeking out an oil that was very low in THC, yet very high in cannabidiol (CBD). They were able to put Charlotte on a daily medication routine of cannabis oil and take her off of her prescription drugs.
Charlotte’s reaction to the medicine was immediate and significant. Her parents instantly noticed the medicine working and Charlotte’s seizures starting to decline. After three years of using the CBD oil, Charlotte’s seizures had dropped from almost a thousand seizures a month, to just four.
There is a strain grown in Colorado specifically for Charlotte and children like her who suffer from similar seizures. It is called Charlotte’s Web. Even though the oil created from the medical marijuana plant has an extremely low volume of THC, it is still illegal under federal guidelines and cannot be transported out of Colorado. This forces families with children who suffer from Dravet Syndrome, and other seizures, to move their family from the place they call home just so they can administer the medicine their child needs to survive.
Please remember that it is our duty as concerned citizens for children like Charlotte to go to the voting booths in November and vote YES on Initiative 182! It’s time to put a stop to the needless war on marijuana and allow doctors and scientists to study the plant’s medicinal purposes to help all those who need it.