{"id":5744,"date":"2016-03-23T08:53:40","date_gmt":"2016-03-23T08:53:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/?p=4599"},"modified":"2016-03-23T08:53:40","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T08:53:40","slug":"draconian-drug-laws-continue-to-create-families-of-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-to-create-families-of-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care\/","title":{"rendered":"Draconian Drug Laws Continue To Create Families Of \u2018Cannabis Refugees\u2019 Seeking Care"},"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\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-to-create-families-of-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>Shortly after Amylea Nu\u00f1ez was born in December, the newborn started having seizures, as many as 15 a day.<\/p>\n<p>Knowing the medicines she was prescribed by doctors at Children\u2019s Hospital Colorado could seriously damage her liver, Amylea\u2019s parents requested that she be treated with Charlotte\u2019s Web CBD oil.<\/p>\n<p>Within days, her parents reported that Amylea was more alert and responsive, and her seizures have decreased dramatically.<\/p>\n<p>Amylea is the youngest patient in an ongoing clinical trial to study the reactions of patients with severe epilepsy to CBD oil and identify any long-term side effects.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, Children\u2019s Hospital made it clear that it does not provide the \u201cartisanal marijuana\u201d parents may choose to administer to children in the study. Further, it asserted: \u201cWe don\u2019t yet have the science to fully understand medical marijuana and how it impacts children, which is why Children\u2019s Colorado supports research to determine the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So far, there have been many promising studies revealing the positive impacts of CBD, or cannabidiol, in treating epilepsy in children, multiple sclerosis and even cancer. It\u2019s also been proven effective in fighting nausea, inflammation and depression.<\/p>\n<p>The cannabis-derived compound does not contain the psychoactive compounds found in THC, the part of the plant that gets you \u201chigh,\u201d so it\u2019s been a major game-changer in the fight for expanding access to medical marijuana.<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, as lawmakers attempt to push \u201cReefer Madness\u201d into yet another century despite shifting popular attitudes toward marijuana, CBD presents all of the medicinal benefits and none of the supposed social threats.<\/p>\n<p>Still, as of July, only 16 states had CBD-specific laws on the books, not including the 23 states and Washington, D.C., which have legalized marijuana for recreational or medical use. And even in those 16 states, the laws are not created equal. Some, like Colorado, do an outstanding service of expanding access to families looking to make their own informed treatment decisions, while others remain incredibly narrow and limit access to a small number of patients, often only in clinical trials and only for cases of epilepsy.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that on the federal level, cannabis in any form remains scheduled as a Schedule I drug, right alongside cocaine and heroin. And while CBD can be derived from industrial hemp , American farmers still aren\u2019t allowed to cultivate that particular crop.<\/p>\n<p>MintPress News reported in December about \u201ccannabis refugees,\u201d people who have left their homes in states with restrictive marijuana laws and headed to states with cannabis-friendly policies.<\/p>\n<p>We met Aubrie Hill and her mom, Vicki, who had recently moved to California from Alabama in search of effective cannabis therapies. Aubrie, who is 20 years old, began experiencing regular, extremely painful seizures at the age of 5. Her doctors in Alabama recommended brain surgeries after standard treatments failed.<\/p>\n<p>Not only did two of these surgeries fail to ease her seizure disorder, they also left her partially blind and led to losses of memory and cognitive functions. So, Aubrie started self-medicating with cannabis.<\/p>\n<p>Alabama\u2019s restrictive \u201cCarly\u2019s Law\u201d allows board-certified neurologists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham to provide CBD oil to patients with debilitating or life-threatening seizures as part of a clinical study. But patients only started receiving those \u201cexperimental treatments\u201d in April of 2015.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than navigating the new system, the Hills moved to Northern California in August and Aubrie immediately started a CBD oil treatment regimen that\u2019s resulted in a dramatic decrease in seizure activity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried to everything I could while in Alabama, but now that we are here [in California] it\u2019s much better and we have a support system,\u201d Vicki said. \u201cYou can\u2019t ask questions in Alabama. They are unable to share the research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Just think: If CBD had been legal and accessible, Aubrie could have avoided years of painful seizures and treatments.<\/p>\n<p>While many parents and physicians have reported positive effects in CBD oil therapies, it remains to be seen what the long-term effects might be. But considering cognitive and behavioral issues, liver damage, and impediments to the body\u2019s ability to fight infection or to stop bleeding are known side effects of traditional therapies to fight seizures and epilepsy, perhaps the greatest thing CBD oil offers families is hope through natural healing.<\/p>\n<p>Some critics argue that the positive effects of CBD are largely anecdotal, and, in fact, studies have produced mixed results. Indeed, not every treatment has the same effect on every body. Medicine can be as much of an art as it is a science. But for a child with an extremely rare form of epilepsy, which produces regular, painful seizures despite an exhaustive run of pharmaceuticals, parents are increasingly inclined to give CBD oil a go if they can.<\/p>\n<p>The nation\u2019s own draconian drug laws are at least partly to blame for the lack of research in this regard. The federal government has conceded that CBD and THC may have some medical value, but only as a separate, single molecules. That\u2019s why the whole plant remains classed as a \u201cdangerous\u201d Schedule I drug.<\/p>\n<p>Even in that concession, though, it\u2019s clear that patients don\u2019t come first: Studies have shown synthesized, single-molecule CBD to be less effective than whole plant CBD. And experts believe that CBD and THC are most effective when used together.<\/p>\n<p>The only winner in the federal government\u2019s scheduling scheme is Big Pharma , which stands to reap massive profits if \u201csingle-molecule\u201d treatments, like CBD, can be synthesized, mass-produced and mass-distributed.<\/p>\n<p>Late last year, the DEA eased some restrictions to allow for more FDA-approved clinical trials with CBD. Hopefully, for patients like Amylea Nu\u00f1ez who have found relief in CBD, this will become a trend, and not an exception to the rule.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-to-create-families-of-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-4600\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-4600 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-to-create-families-of-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care.jpg\" alt=\"Cannabis Refugees Seeking Care\" width=\"737\" height=\"400\" \/><\/a>News Moderator: Robert Celt <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">420 MAGAZINE \u00ae<\/a><br \/>\nFull Article: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-create-families-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care\/214875\/\" target=\"_blank\">Draconian Drug Laws Continue To Create Families Of \u2018Cannabis Refugees\u2019 Seeking Care<\/a><br \/>\nAuthor: Mnar Muhawesh<br \/>\nContact: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/contact-us\/\" target=\"_blank\">MintPressNews<\/a><br \/>\nPhoto Credit: None found<br \/>\nWebsite: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mintpressnews.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">MintPressNews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shortly after Amylea Nu\u00f1ez was born in December, the newborn started having seizures, as many as 15 a day.<br \/>\nKnowing&#8230; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.420magazine.com\/2016\/03\/draconian-drug-laws-continue-create-families-cannabis-refugees-seeking-care\/\" 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":[2329,9,1,3],"tags":[4896],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5744"}],"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=5744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5744\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}