{"id":9333,"date":"2021-02-22T13:23:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-22T13:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=4460488"},"modified":"2021-02-22T13:23:00","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T13:23:00","slug":"on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana\/","title":{"rendered":"On Charlotte Figi Day, family will celebrate the Colorado girl who helped legitimize medical marijuana"},"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\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2021\/02\/22\/charlotte-figi-memorial-cbd-cannabis-medical-marijuana-colorado\/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dp-news-marijuana+%28Denver+Post%3A+News%3A+Marijuana%29&amp;utm_content=Google+UK#comments-anchor\"><span class=\"spot-im-replies-count\" data-post-id=\"4460488\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Paige Figi hasn\u2019t spoken publicly about her daughter Charlotte in the 10 months since the teenager\u2019s passing. It\u2019s an unusual, if welcome, change of pace considering the Colorado Springs duo spent nearly a decade in the spotlight leading a crusade for medicinal marijuana that helped change both laws and lives.<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte, whose battle with Dravet syndrome and subsequent treatment popularized the use of cannabidiol, or CBD, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2020\/04\/08\/charlotte-figi-obituary-coronavirus\/\">died last April<\/a> after contracting what the family suspects was COVID-19. The 13-year-old later was cremated, Figi said, but the pandemic prevented her parents from making any funeral plans. That is, until now.<\/p>\n<p>On April 7 \u2014 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westword.com\/marijuana\/charlotte-figi-day-in-colorado-to-honor-face-of-cbd-movement-11695467\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">officially dubbed Charlotte Figi Day in Colorado<\/a> \u2014 family, friends and fans are invited to join a virtual celebration of life called <a href=\"https:\/\/rocktheroc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rock the RoC<\/a>. Hosted by Realm of Caring, a nonprofit organization dedicated to medical marijuana research, education and advocacy, the two-hour event will feature live performances by the Avett Brothers, the War and Treaty, and Ruthie Foster, plus guest appearances from Gov. Jared Polis, CNN\u2019s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and more.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe was always publicly shared, even though I was vilified a bit for it. That\u2019s how we felt about her life, so in her death I feel it\u2019s absolutely the right thing,\u201d Figi said. \u201cI\u2019m not a private person, not in the CBD world I haven\u2019t been. There\u2019s no need to grieve privately.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte was one of Colorado\u2019s many medical marijuana refugees, her family having moved to the state following cannabis legalization. From the time she was an infant, she suffered from frequent and severe seizures because of Dravet syndrome, a rare and potentially life-threatening genetic disease that causes unrelenting epilepsy in children and adults. The Figis tried numerous medications to quell Charlotte\u2019s seizures, but none worked.<\/p>\n<p>Then, at age 5, Figi gave her cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound in cannabis, and <a href=\"https:\/\/extras.denverpost.com\/stateofhope\/#part3\">Charlotte\u2019s condition changed overnight<\/a>. Her seizures became less frequent. She began speaking again after months of silence.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor eight years she was a success,\u201d Figi said. \u201cI got to meet her again because she came out of this drugged fog and this disastrous, just fatal situation. So for eight years I shared that story because it was the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4462105\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana.jpg\" width=\"4928\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/501.0.367999133-CD15MEDICALPOT__AO13650x.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/501.0.367999133-CD15MEDICALPOT__AO13650x.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/501.0.367999133-CD15MEDICALPOT__AO13650x.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1280w,https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/501.0.367999133-CD15MEDICALPOT__AO13650x.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1860w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post file<\/p>\n<p>In this 2013 file photo Charlotte Figi, then 7, is held by her mother Paige at the park near their home in Colorado Springs. Figi was the first youth in the state to use medical cannabis oil to help with symptoms from from Dravet Syndrome, a form of epilepsy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>\u201cJourney into cannabis\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>Charlotte\u2019s journey was famously chronicled in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2013\/08\/08\/health\/gupta-changed-mind-marijuana\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a CNN documentary<\/a>, thrusting CBD, a relatively unknown cannabinoid, into a national spotlight. The strain of cannabis that helped change her life was named Charlotte\u2019s Web in her honor.<\/p>\n<p>Research into cannabis has long been hampered by its status as a Schedule I drug, but Charlotte\u2019s story \u201cunquestionably\u201d helped legitimize the plant and its medicinal potential, said Dr. Alan Shackelford. When he met the Figi family in 2012, Shackelford was running his own practice in Denver focused primarily on assessing patients who might benefit from medical marijuana. (Because the plant and most products made from it are illegal at the federal level, doctors cannot technically prescribe it, Shakelford said.)<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte was not only the first epileptic patient he had seen, but also the first child. It was a risk, he said, as both federal and state officials discouraged doctors from recommending medical marijuana, despite its legalization in the Centennial State in 2000. But it ended up being one worth taking, he said \u2014 that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncsl.org\/research\/health\/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">39 states have now legalized marijuana or hemp for medicinal purposes<\/a> is due in no small part to the young girl\u2019s success.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharlotte and the family and (Gupta\u2019s documentary) \u2018Weed\u2019 made such a huge difference,\u201d said Shackelford, who in 2018 co-founded a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shackelfordpharma.com\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">cannabinoid research and drug development company<\/a>. \u201cIt took away much of the stigma\u2026 because Charlotte was clearly not trying to get high, her parents weren\u2019t trying to get her high.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wendy Turner was among those who saw the CNN special and moved to Colorado to seek treatment for her son, Coltyn Turner. When he was 11 years old, Coltyn nearly drowned while at a Boy Scout camp. Though he was rescued and survived, he swallowed enough water to cause a bacterial infection that developed into Crohn\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n<p>Coltyn Turner began using medical cannabis in 2014 and it completely changed his life, Wendy Turner said. He no longer required the use of a wheelchair shortly after treatment, and now the soon-to-be 21-year-old is attending online school in hopes of becoming a lobbyist for marijuana patient rights.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharlotte, honestly, is the reason why we took that journey into cannabis,\u201d said Wendy Turner, whose family moved back to Illinois after marijuana was legalized there. \u201cWe appreciate the Figi family and what Paige has done for the whole world with her journey in CBD.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_361963\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter size-article_inline\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-1.jpg\" alt=\"Charlotte Figi, 7, has seen her ...\" width=\"654\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-1.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-1.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20131214__20131215_B1_CD15MEDICALPOT1p1.jpg?fit=780%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 780w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20131214__20131215_B1_CD15MEDICALPOT1p1.jpg?fit=810%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 810w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20131214__20131215_B1_CD15MEDICALPOT1p1.jpg?fit=1280%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1280w,https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/20131214__20131215_B1_CD15MEDICALPOT1p1.jpg?fit=1860%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 1860w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>Charlotte Figi, pictured at age 7, had seen her epileptic seizures reduced with treatment of cannabidiol.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>\u201cEveryone\u2019s life has a purpose\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>In March 2020, the entire Figi family fell ill with what they suspect was the novel coronavirus. While Paige Figi needed at-home IV therapy, Charlotte appeared to have less severe symptoms and to recover well compared to the rest of the household.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4460936\" class=\"wp-caption alignright size-article_inline_half\"><img class=\" lazyautosizes lazyload\" src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-2.jpg\" width=\"2527\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-2.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/on-charlotte-figi-day-family-will-celebrate-the-colorado-girl-who-helped-legitimize-medical-marijuana-2.jpg 620w,https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.denverpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/TDP-L-CBD-FIGI_JAC3146x.jpg?fit=310%2C9999px&amp;ssl=1 310w\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\n<p>Andy Cross, The Denver Post<\/p>\n<p>A painting of the late Charlotte Figi by artist Nichole Montanez hangs in the living room of her mother\u2019s house on Feb. 18, 2021. Charlotte suffered a fatal seizure in April 07, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Then, about a month after getting sick, Charlotte\u2019s health suddenly began to deteriorate. She was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at a Colorado Springs hospital, where doctors treated her as a COVID-19 patient, though she tested negative for the virus at the time. (The rest of the family was never tested due to the limited availability of tests at the time, Figi said.)<\/p>\n<p>The hospital released Charlotte after her symptoms seemed to improve, but days later she suffered a seizure that resulted in fatal respiratory failure and cardiac arrest. Doctors believe Charlotte to be one of the virus\u2019s youngest victims in Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>After her passing last April, Realm of Caring ramped up its efforts, even as the pandemic disrupted nearly every facet of American life, said president Heather Jackson. The organization, which Jackson co-founded with Figi, donated nearly $3 million in marijuana products to families in need and continued outreach to maintain a sense of community among those in its network.<\/p>\n<p>Jackson also launched a new branch of the nonprofit called Unlimited Sciences, which focuses on research into the medicinal properties of psychedelics, such as psilocybin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCharlotte is just so much more than the name of a product,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cEverything changed because of not just the bravery of Charlotte and Paige, but the other families who were suffering often in silence. And it was because these families were brave enough to say, \u2018My child deserves this,\u2019 that this entire category was born and we can\u2019t forget that. I will not let us forget that. I will not let the industry forget whose shoulders they stand on.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\" \/>\n<p>Figi can only describe the grief she feels as a process, a roller coaster-like experience that uncomfortably creeps up on her during mundane moments. For 13 years, Figi was Charlotte\u2019s caretaker, voice and advocate \u2014 they were so close, they seemed to identify as one person, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen you think about everyone you know who\u2019s lost a kid and everyone you know who\u2019s lost someone to COVID,\u201d Figi said. \u201cHalf a million people almost I think we\u2019re at. Everyone is going through <em>this<\/em> and it becomes super overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A mom to two other children, Maxwell, 17, and Charlotte\u2019s twin Chase, 14, Paige Figi is trying to set a healthy example by seeking professional grief counseling. She\u2019s also taken to riding motorcycles and horses over the last year, acquiring a few broken bones along the way. She\u2019s excited about the upcoming funeral not only because it\u2019s an opportunity for the cannabis community to collectively grieve one of their own, but also because it offers a chance to celebrate Charlotte\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt shows that it\u2019s pretty amazing what we can accomplish with literally everything against you,\u201d Figi said. \u201cI hope people can understand that there\u2019s no disability too great to overcome. Everyone\u2019s life has a purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Tune in to Rock the RoC, a tribute to Charlotte Figi, for free at 6 p.m. April 7 at <a href=\"https:\/\/rocktheroc.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rocktheroc.org<\/a>. Realm of Caring will launch a Kickstarter to help cover the cost of putting on the event and will also accept donations to support its programs and services.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>Charlotte Figi died last April after contracting what her family suspects was COVID-19, but her legacy lives in on in the medical marijuana reform she helped inspire through her journey with cannabidiol, or CBD. Friends and fan are invited to celebrate Charlotte at a virtual memorial on April 7. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[531,52,330,6811,6892,6813,77,6999,6815,7280,56,9,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[3105,2632,2908,6816,6893,6818,2655,7000,6820,7283,2636,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333"}],"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=9333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9333\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}