Dravet Syndrome: A Case Study

First, from 1900 to 1940, marijuana, including opium and cocaine were considered part of everyday drugs. As time went on, the U.S. cracked down on crack and opium, eventually outlawing them, but continued to be very “loose” with the use of marijuana. Hoxter a weed smuggler explains how he began in the 1960’s trying weed and years later saw himself unloading four hundred pounds of pot in Vancouver. The story of this man ends in his isolation and argument of why he couldn’t smoke weed even if he stopped selling? He asked a parole officer and she didn’t know what to respond. It is true what Hoxter states, fifty years ago alcohol was illegal and now it’s not, was it bad then? Will weed be legalized? And will the conflicts have been in vain? (Schou 8). Around the late 90’s and early 2000’s, scientific studies started to produce jaw-dropping results. Scientists started to discover that marijuana can significantly help people who have become ill. Medical Marijuana has been tested to help people with cataracts, cancer and severe depression (Zeese 1999). With this new worldwide discovery, the argument about medical marijuana ignited. States wanted to only make medical marijuana legal so it may help sick people, but the government did not want any form of marijuana legal. The law that was known throughout the United States was any form of marijuana was illegal. But now with this new discovery, doctors in states across the country want the

Joycelyn Elders, former Surgeon General, once spoke about the legalization of marijuana for medical use in a press conference. "It's criminal to keep this medicine from patients," she said (Silverman, 1995, pg. 2). She received criticism not only from many citizens of the United States, but also strong criticism from the President who appointed her. The legalization of marijuana for medical use has always been a sharply debated subject, and many of the debaters are uneducated about the effects of using this illegal drug for therapeutic use. Many studies have been done and the results are clear. As a medical drug, marijuana should be available to patients who do not adequately respond to currently available

(2015). Sec. 481.201). In June of 2015, the “Compassionate-Use Act” was passed to allow patients low prescriptions of THC to help alleviate seizures and other painful symptoms. To do this, the doctor must have proven that he prescribed two separate non-THC treatments and both proved ineffective of alleviating the patient’s systems (Health and Safety Code, 2015, S.B. 339).

At this point in her life she was using a wheelchair, had heart attacks and had trouble speaking. After trying different medications to control Charlottes seizures, with no results, her mother Page, turned to alternative medicine. She consumes oil, extracted from a medical marijuana strand known as "Charlotte's Web". Now, two year later she walks, talks, and feeds her self. This particular strain is high in cannabinoids or CBDs, (CBS News).

To temporarily solve a more serious problem, they gave her medication, and we were on our way. When the time finally came to see the neurologist, they had hooked her up to an EEG, which monitored her brain waves. They found nothing in this EEG, until a different hospital performed a 24-48 hour EEG. She was in the hospital trying to make sure she had her homework completed and was caught up, when the machine caught strange brain waves when she was doing her math homework. This was the first time the doctor told us it wasn’t seizures due to stress, but partial onset seizures. Her brain looks normal, but when a seizure hits, it starts in the left temporal lobe and travels to the right side of her brain, lighting up like a firework. This affects her mood and emotions, to where her brain must reboot in order for her to

Seizure disorders, according to the Mayo Clinic (2015), affect approximately 1 in 26 people in the United States. Persistent, or chronic, seizures result from a condition called epilepsy, a neurological disorder of the central nervous system. It can affect anyone regardless of age, but is more common during early childhood and after age 60. Given the number of people that seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, affect, it becomes helpful to gain a foundational understanding of the disease, including some of the causes, symptoms, and treatments available.

Campaigns such as this one continued through the twentieth century and they were prompted not only by affluent political figures, but by the federal government as well. In 1974, Dr. Robert G. Heath reported a connection between marijuana use and its detriments to one’s health. He claimed that marijuana usage causes brain damage in humans. Dr. Heath had conducted

Seizure is the physical finding that occurs after abnormal electrical activities in the brain. Patients with seizures could have symptoms like changes in one’s behavior, drooling, frothing at the mouth, irregular eye movement, grunting and snorting, incontinence, extreme changes in mood, shakes, sudden falls, abnormal changes in taste buds, clenching teeth, respiratory arrest, uncontrolled muscle spasms, twitching, and brief blackout follow by period of confusion where they don’t remember anything (Seizures: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia). Seizures also have many underlying etiology such as abnormal sodium or glucose levels in the blood, brain infections, brain injuries, brain tumor,

The main discussion of Dying to Get High is the use and legalization of medical marijuana, a highly debated topic. Chapter one discusses how in early times, marijuana was a common medicine that treated many medical conditions. Through the years, it began to be seen as a dangerous substance to due to social issues such as the association with other racial groups that created this moral panic. Therefore, marijuana is classified as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, though there were many studies that proved that this substance as minimal effects. Chapter two shows how in an attempt to spread awareness of the medical uses of marijuana, WAMM, Wo/Men’s alliance for Medical Marijuana, was created. This is a nonprofit group that grew cannabis and gave it to their members for free in return for donations or volunteer work from those members.

The documentary’s description of neuroplasticity of seizure patients represents the unknowing and negligent work ethic of modern day scientists and researchers alike. This is confirmed by the lack of treatment of these afflicted individuals who suffer a never ending siege daily with themselves, almost always certain that their pain will end but it is always to no avail.

The Lee family faced several medical encounters one being their daughter Lia having neurological disorders such as seizures from the age of eight months to four in a half years old. Lia was admitted to the Merced Community Medical Center seventeen times and she also had more than one hundred outpatient visits to the emergency room and the Family Practice Center. (Fadiman, Chapters 3 and 5).

The adults, Rosemary Wallace and Perry Parks, have managed to find ways to use medical marijuana, but have to go about it in complicated ways. Wallace has to travel between her homes in South Carolina and Colorado in order to use medical marijuana and while Parks is a North Carolina resident, both states have very similar laws regarding cannabis and medical marijuana. In the case of all three patients, before discovering hemp oil, cannabis, and medical marijuana, they were all on a cocktail of drugs. After finding it however, all three patients have stated that it was exactly what they needed to relieve the pain. Research has also shown that medical marijuana can help the side effects of HIV, cancer, chemotherapy, glaucoma, spinal cord injury, and many other illnesses/diseases. However, even after hearing these stories and looking at the statistics, lawmakers still choose not to pass the bill legalizing medical marijuana. Many of the decisions have to do with ethical/moral

Through the effort of Amylynne Santiago Volker, who has been advocating for a change to Wisconsin laws that would allow cannabidiol (CBD) accessible to her young son Nick, who suffers from a type of intractable epilepsy known as Doose Syndrome. In 2013Assembly Bill 726, also known as Lydia’s Law legalized CBD oil in Wisconsin. Initially, the law was met with much excitement and positive coverage in the media statewide and nationally, but concerns over its efficacy in meeting the needs of patients like Nick are being underscored. While there were some questions before the bill was presented for discussion in the state senate, a more detailed assessment of the content of the law has now left many CBD supporters to conclude that the law does nothing to ensure that patients can actually obtain CBD oil in the State of Wisconsin.

Close your eyes and imagine for a moment. You now have a child who suffers from extreme, almost constant, terrifying seizures. Unfortunately, none of the medicine prescribed in the past has worked. In fact, some medication even makes the seizures worse. Suddenly, doctors discover a medicine that has the potential to reduce seizures and sometimes stop them all together, therefore improving your child’s quality of life. They have turned that medicine into safe drops, vapor, and pills. Would you want to at least give the medicine a try? Would you want to give your child some relief? If you answered yes, then you have just proven that it is not the medicine that people feel uneasy about, it is the stigma of the name of plant the medicine comes from, marijuana.

Opponents also support that marijuana may affect brain development and irritate the heart and the lungs. It may be true, but it is not a reason for criminalizing the use of marijuana since we know that smoking cigarette causes lung cancer and many heart diseases. Moreover, mental diseases such as the Parkinson’s disease and the Multiple Sclerosis can be treated with marijuana thanks to two substances it contains called cannabidiol and tetrahydrocannabinol, which permit to reduce inflammation, control spasms, and even prevent neurological damage. For instance, an Australian mother Cheri O'Connell revealed in a report of Herald Sun News about the benefits of liquid marijuana, which she says saved her epileptic daughter Tara who was only given months to live. In fact, Tara could barely walk or talk, and she slept as much as a newborn. She endured more than 20,000 seizures every year; her condition left her parents and siblings, exhausted and scared for the future. Running out of options, they met another family, who had lost a similar battle. This family advices the O’Connell’s to try Marijuana. Then, they did so, and Tara is now seizure-free, walking, running and even dancing after one year of treatment. Cheri says, "We didn't see her having a future at all. But I can now see us being able to