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Chaz Moore

Families find Stress and Relief with Medical Marijuana Laws

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As we constantly hear about “family values” in this election year, we find ourselves questioning the sincerity of those statements.  The United States witnesses so many families struggling with healthcare, and even for those lucky enough to have access to pharmaceutical treatments it is often not enough to provide relief.  Two families have been featured in the news recently as they try their best to provide a better quality of life for their children.

A recent article entitled “Without Marijuana, I’d Probably Be Dead” describes 17 year old Chaz Moore’s health struggles.  Doctors say that Chaz is one of 50 people in the entire world who have been diagnosed with myoclonus diaphragmatic flutter.  The condition causes muscle spasms that can occur dozens of times in one day alone.  For most of his life, Chaz Moore was healthy, athletic, active and seemingly normal.  Several years ago this all changed drastically and Moore started to notice hives and spasms several times a week.  The symptoms became progressively worse as Chaz’s father recalled, “One week, we went nine times to the ER, we were going nuts, just totally freaking out. Nobody knew what was wrong.”  Traditional medicine proved to be ineffective until Chaz was taking a combination of 16 pills per day.

Although doctors were able to treat his symptoms at first with an aggressive pill cycle, eventually the spasms returned and were unable to be controlled.  Shan Moore eventually suggested to doctors that Chaz try marijuana as a way to regulate the attacks.  To date, it is the only treatment that has proved to be consistent.   Although Moore is one of 41 minors who possess a medical marijuana card in Colorado, he could benefit greatly from further marijuana legal reform.  His situation requires him to medicate during the day and this has put him at odds with school administrators.  Chaz Moore now takes online classes from his home.

Unfortunately, another family seeking relief for their child has even more legal hurdles to overcome.  Gill and Catherine Mejias are seeking an alternative approach toward their son Deacon’s autism.  Deacon is only seven years old which makes the situation even more sensitive.  While it may sound extremely controversial to use marijuana in treatment for young children, many parents are claiming it has helped their children who have autism (click here for a letter from a mother titled “Why I Give My 9 Year Old Pot”). Deacon’s parents claim that his teachers noticed a drastic turnaround in his behavior after he started taking Marinol.

However, Catherine Deacon says that Deacon typically builds up a tolerance to synthetics and the Marinol regimen has lost its effectiveness.  Oklahoma is not a state that permits medical marijuana although the Mejias family is hopeful that will soon change.  State Senator Constance Johnson (D-Oklahoma City) has proposed senate bill 573, which would allow doctors to prescribe medical marijuana.  The Mejias family has stated they will move to another state if the bill does not pass. Oklahoma state governor Mary Fallin has indicated she would veto any bill to legalize medical marijuana.

We are a country that places an emphasis on “family”.  Is it not equally important that the word “compassion” closely accompanies family?  Current laws have forced little choice but to break the law for those who have true family values.

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