{"id":4463,"date":"2015-07-29T11:52:36","date_gmt":"2015-07-29T11:52:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=3602"},"modified":"2015-07-29T11:52:36","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T11:52:36","slug":"australia-families-are-waiting-for-medicinal-marijuana-trials-to-begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/australia-families-are-waiting-for-medicinal-marijuana-trials-to-begin\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia: Families Are Waiting For Medicinal Marijuana Trials To Begin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/australia-families-are-waiting-for-medicinal-marijuana-trials-to-begin\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Ipswich ?families are crying out for trials of medicinal marijuana as they struggle to manage seizures and chronic pain.<\/p>\n<p>Springfield\u2019s Dylan Santos, 12, suffers up to 20 seizures a day due to epilepsy and a progressive neurological disorder leukodystrophy.<\/p>\n<p>His parents were told their son would not survive past two.<\/p>\n<p>Mum Sarah Santos worries about the toll the seizures are taking on Dylan\u2019s body, and desperately hopes medicinal marijuana could improve life for her family.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou never know just how much more damage those seizures are going to do,\u201d Mrs Santos said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c(Medicinal marijuana) may not prolong his lifespan by much &#8230; but it could make it easier to take him places and to get people to look after him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Santos said Dylan -required supervision 24 hours a day, causing such a strain that she and her husband recently separated.<\/p>\n<p>She isn\u2019t alone, with Bellbird Park\u2019s Kirsty Wardle also hoping to see medicinal marijuana legalised after hearing success stories.<\/p>\n<p>Her daughter Elexis, 11, was diagnosed with photosensitive epilepsy at 18 months old.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe has generalised -refractory epilepsy, which means while drugs control it to a small extent, she\u2019s not seizure free,\u201d Mrs Wardle said. \u201cIt might not work for her but at this point we\u2019d be willing to try anything.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mrs Wardle said Elexis has one to 10 seizures a week.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s affected her learning, her independence, her speech and her memory.<\/p>\n<p>Epileptics aren\u2019t the only ones who could benefit from medicinal marijuana, with others like Redbank Plains resident Sarah Taylor looking for a solution to her husband\u2019s chronic pain.<\/p>\n<p>He suffered slipped vertebra during a work accident in 2011 and still lives every day in agony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe can have good days &#8230; but this week he spent 90 per cent of the week in bed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve just gone to the supermarket and he\u2019s still in the car because he gets numbness, pains and shaking in his legs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><b>A Queensland Health spokesman said in a statement:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>? Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced Queensland would partner with New South Wales in trials of medicinal cannabis on April 19, 2015.<\/p>\n<p>? The trials will explore the development and use of safe, pharmaceutical product(s) derived from cannabis to treat particular medical conditions, such as children with severe, drug-resistant epilepsy.<\/p>\n<p>? The design and detail of the trial relating to Queensland\u2019s involvement is yet to be agreed and discussions are still occurring with New South Wales to work this out.<\/p>\n<p>? It is anticipated the trial will begin in 2016.<\/p>\n<p>Centenary Natural Therapies Clinic head therapist Peter Mills said sufficient trials need to be completed before the legalisation of medicinal -marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Mills said he has \u201ccautious optimism\u201d of the benefits of medicinal marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt this point we don\u2019t have this same understanding of medical marijuana (as other medications and herbs) so we just don\u2019t know the full implications of using it, however the research so far is very encouraging,\u201d Dr Mills said.<\/p>\n<p><img src=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/gallery\/data\/1412\/1128.jpeg\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" \/><\/p>\n<p>News Moderator: Jacob Redmond <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.couriermail.com.au\/questnews\/south\/ipswich-families-are-waiting-for-medicinal-marijuana-trials-to-begin-living-every-day-with-seizures-and-chronic-pain\/story-fni9r1nj-1227455032385\" target=\"_blank\">No Cookies | The Courier-Mail<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Paige Carfrae<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.couriermail.com.au\/questnews\/contact\" target=\"_blank\">No Cookies | The Courier-Mail<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: Paul Guy<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.couriermail.com.au\/\" target=\"_blank\">No Cookies | The Courier-Mail<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ipswich ?families are crying out for trials of medicinal marijuana as they struggle to manage seizures and chronic pain.<br \/>\nSpringfield\u2019s&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2015\/07\/australia-families-are-waiting-for-medicinal-marijuana-trials-to-begin\/\" class=\"read-more\">[Read More]<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1616,9,1,3],"tags":[4184],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4463"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4463\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}