Epilepsy Foundation Head Urges Nationwide Medical Marijuana Availability

[A Turtle Named Mack]

In 2013, a six-year-old epilepsy patient named Charlotte Figi was featured in a CNN documentary about medical marijuana following a dramatic improvement in her condition after she began ingesting a low-THC strain of marijuana named "Charlotte's Web." Figi's parents turned to medical marijuana (in the form of cannabis oil) as a last resort to treat their daughter's seizure disorder, which was causing about 300 grand mal seizures per week. Figi's seizures were reduced from 1,200 a month to just three in eight months following the beginning of her treatment. Now, the head of Epilepsy Foundation is urging for nationwide availability of the strain, saying that parents of sick children shouldn't be forced to move to Colorado to treat their children.

http://townhall.com/tipsheet/christi...ation-n1962773

[ASL]

I'd be curious to know if there have been any actual studies on THC to treat epilepsy. Didn't see anything in the article.

[A Turtle Named Mack]

True, it seems to be all anecdotal, not just in this article, but in others I have seen. It ought to be enough to spur studies. One of the most interesting things I learned from this article was that the preferred variety is a non-high variety, much, much lower in THC than what is grown for recreational use. It ought to be even easier for those concerned about recreational abuse to get behind studying medical uses of low-THC pot. But then, there is still strong opposition to growing industrial hemp, though that is almost completely deficient of THC.

[Lainie]

http://time.com/3264691/medical-mari...tes-web-study/

[erwins]

Originally Posted by Lainie

http://time.com/3264691/medical-mari...tes-web-study/

That article highlights why there isn't really any evidence about this stuff, and even the study being discussed won't really prove that marijuana is an effective treatment. Federal drug laws totally hamstring researchers working with marijuana. An interventional study where patients would be given marijuana or a placebo in a double blind protocol is very unlikely under the current controlled substances act, which classifies marijuana as having no medical use.

One of the unfortunate effects of that, I think, is that a lot of people are being drawn into believing that marijuana is a panacea, and the evidence isn't forthcoming one way or another.

[Esprise Me]

It's really unfortunate that marijuana is still Schedule I. It's pretty much undisputed among medical professionals that it has some medical uses and it's not that dangerous, so it's a completely inappropriate classification which hamstrings efforts to determine how useful it can be in other medical contexts.

Here in California, it's absurdly easy to get a bogus prescription, and I know plenty of people who have one. But I also know a few people for whom it serves a legitimate medical purpose. Some people fit both categories--they use it for e.g. migraines, but also for fun, because why not? I'm sure further studies would bear out their anecdotal experiences, but those studies are hard to get off the ground.

[geminilee]

I agree esprise_me. Both because it will show what conditions it definitely helps, such as nausea and pain, and it will show what it doesn't help.

I personally think it should be fully legalized, but if we are going the prescription route, we need evidence.

[Mouse]

It's long been a mystery to me why we don't just treat Marijuana the way we do Tobacco: regulate it and tax it within an inch of its life. As many will point out, there's really not a lot of evidence that Marijuana's any more lethal for you than Tobacco.

[geminilee]

And a lot less so than alcohol. Cigs and weed may cause deaths in the long term, alcohol will kill you both slowly and quickly.