Marijuana Stops Child's Severe Seizures: A Case Study

A two year old, named Jaqie Angel Warrior had been suffering from several types of seizures ever since she was five months old. Doctors had tried many medications to control her seizures, such as klonopin , and depakote; but all failed to stop these thousands of seizures, resulting in terrible side effects. Jaqie’s mother, Brittany had been researching other potential cures, when she came across cannabis oil. Soon after, they moved to a motel in Colorado, and began using high-CBD oil, which also contains high levels of THC. Levels higher than any other states CBD-only bill allows. Since they began using the cannabis oil, Jaqie’s seizures have reduced by 90%, and Brittany ceased use of any dangerous pharmaceuticals. (Patient Success)

In one case, a little girl named Charlotte, had her first seizure when she was 3 months old. Charlotte lives in Colorado, which was the first U.S state to legalize medicinal and recreational use of marijuana. When she was taken to the doctors to get her blood tested, the doctors tested everything they thought the seizures could have be caused by, but none of the tests came back positive. As time went on, her seizures continued to worsen and worsen. Her seizures would often last for hours. The medications that she was put on, proved to be harmful and ineffective. She was taking seven different medications, including barbiturates and benzodiazepines.

Increasingly, more and more evidence shows how cannabidiol (CBD) cannabis is making a positive impact in treating children with rare diseases, particularly seizure conditions. The story of Jayden David, first shown on the Sanjay Gupta’s documentary Weed Wars, is only one of many that deserves to be told, as it highlights just how CBD oil is making a difference in the lives of families that dared to try their luck with an alternative form of treatment. CBD hemp oil, derived from the cannabis plant industrial hemp has been shown to alleviate a myriad of health conditions. Research and personal stories are expanding the dialogue on just how medical cannabis could be beneficial in treating conditions such as Dravet syndrome that plagues Jayden. CBD oil had made an incredible impact in Jayden’s life by reducing the frequency of his seizures and improving his quality of life.

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a non-psychoactive extract from the sativa plant that needs to be used in the medical field. The sativa plant produces both, cannabidiol and marijuana. However, cannabidiol is very different from the psychoactive drug, marijuana. The difference, marijuana contains a larger amount of the famous active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Which produces the psychoactive high in marijuana, but cannabidiol does not. Although, cannabidiol is the complete opposite of marijuana, for the very reason of THC it is a controversial product. Hemp Cannabidiol could be used for a very beneficial purpose: medicine in seizures. The level of THC in hemp cannabidiol is minor, though many people are still against the use of this extract for medicine because of the controversies and little research. According to the peer review, “What makes a Good Home Based Nocturnal Seizure Detector? A Value Sensitive Design”, by Judith van Andel, Frans Leijten, Hans van Delden, and Ghislaine van Thiel, all from the University of Medical Centre Utrecht, demonstrates that “Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders…” (1). Hemp CBD from the Sativa plant needs to be used more within the medical field because it has the potent for curing seizure illnesses, a new hope, and boosting the economy.

On May 25, 2015, Attorney General Greg Abbott approved the legalization of cannabidiol (CBD) oil, a component of marijuana, that may help epilepsy patients avoid debilitating seizures. Texas is now the 15th state to legalize non-intoxicating cannabidiol oil. The Texas Department of Public Safety is overseeing the program, and at least three operational CBD oil dispensaries should open by September 2017. The law could potentially help 150,000 Texans currently suffering from epilepsy. However, the law has strict standards to obtain a prescription and may leave many CBD Oil seekers without a prescription. Patients who may not be able to afford prescription CBD, who do not meet the strict standards of the Texas law, or who prefer the benefits of CBD combined with THC (which some say is more effective) may attempt to procure CBD oil from untrustworthy sources. While quality non-intoxicating CBD Oil does not cause failed tests, CBD oil from these untrustworthy

The article “Marijuana Stops Child’s Severe Seizures” by Saundra Young reveals an unusual solution to a child’s illness. Starting from a young age, Charlotte Figi started getting frequent seizures. The seizures lasted from two to four hours and often required Charlotte to be hospitalized. After doing several tests, the doctors were not able to find the exact cause for Charlotte’s seizures. They eventually diagnosed Charlotte with Dravet Syndrome. Following the diagnosis, the doctors decided to start treatment which proved to be unsuccessful. The next step they took was to implement a ketogenic diet which worked for two years with some side effects. Finally, Charlotte’s parents decided to try using medical marijuana that has low THC levels. The medical marijuana used proved to be successful in reducing Charlotte’s seizures drastically.

CBD is a non-psychotropic part that does not have the high. THC is a psychoactive part that gives one the ‘high’ (Greenwell, 2012). In 2012, there was a successful story of a little girl named Charlotte Figi who was diagnosed with Dravet syndrome had frequent seizures. Her first seizure was at three years old and by the time she was five years old she was having “up to 50 generalized tonic-clonic seizures per day” (Maa and Figi, 2014). By 5 years old, Charlotte was out of options. Her parents did a lot of research and found the Stanley brothers. They made a “rare, high CBD strain of cannabis” (Maa and Figi, 2014). Charlie started out on a low dose and increased the dosage. She “experienced seven consecutive days without a single seizure” (Maa and Figi, 2014). By the three months, Charlie had been weaned off her other antiepileptic drugs when she had more than a ninety percent “reduction in GTC seizures and had been weaned off her other antiepileptic drugs…and she has only 2-3 nocturnal GTC seizures” a month (Maa and Figi, 2014). The Figi family tried three times to wean her off of medical marijuana however the seizures returned more severe each time. The nonprofit organization the Stanley Brothers created addresses “the needs of other patients with catastrophic epilepsy syndromes by helping them gain access to consistent, high quality, lab-tested, high-CBD-content cannabis” (Maa and Figi,

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).

An example of the success of this treatment is a five year old girl who suffered from Dravet’s Syndrome. She would have three hundred episodes weekly, people would normally think that prescribing cannabis to child is complete unacceptable, but in this instance it could not have been a better blessing. The medical marijuana brought down her seizures from three hundred a week to only once. Now forty other children in her state are using the same strand of marijuana to treat their syndromes and it has been a positive outcome.

Jacqueline Patterson was born with cerebral palsy. This condition makes her experience stuttering, crippling pain, and muscle imbalance. She has four children and was living in Kansas City, Missouri. Now she lives in California, where a judge determined that her cannabis use is medically necessary to ease her symptoms (Price, In Pot We Trust). Cannabis use for medical purposes and the relief of various symptoms has been around since before recorded history as the National Institute on Drug Abuse notes that, “The earliest written reference is found in the 15th century BC Chinese Pharmacopeia, the Rh-Ya.” While cannabis can be used for recreational purposes, recent research and history provide evidence to its medical benefits (Procon.org, 2017). While the Chinese Pharmacopeia may not have understood the science behind medical benefits of cannabis on certain ailments, it provides a historical background into the use of medicinal cannabis. WebMD defines medical cannabis (or medical marijuana) as, “A drug that is made up of the leaves, flowers, and buds of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. Medical marijuana is the use of this drug to help treat symptoms like pain, muscle stiffness (spasticity), nausea, and lack of appetite.” (WebMD, 2017) This definition provides us with a basis for what can be considered medical cannabis and what a doctor can prescribe legally. As with any other drugs like opioids, cannabis can be abused and it is important that we distinguish what can be used

Furthermore, the use of marijuana stops seizures for it is a muscle relaxant. A real life example of this would be Charlotte Figi, a 6 year old girl who suffered from an untreatable form of epilepsy; she endured some 50 seizures a night. Epilepsy, in short, is a disease in which a person suffers from recurrent seizures. Her parents had tried everything to save her- some nearly ended in her demise. However, as one final go, her parents gave her a high dose of CBD oil, or cannibis oil. According to her parents, her seizures stopped

A 2014 survey at Stanford University resulted in good reports of parents who used cannabidiol to treat their children’s seizures. According to the study 84 per cent of the parents reported that their children’s seizures were reduced with the CBD. 11 per cent reported total freedom from seizures, 42 per cent reported an 80 per cent reduction in frequency of seizures, and 32 per cent reported 25 to 60 per cent seizure reduction. Other reported benefits included better mood, enhanced sleep, and a boost in alertness. The commonly reported side effects were fatigue and

Can you imagine being just six-years-old and suffering from over three hundred violent seizures a week? From birth, Charlotte Figi suffered from a rare form of epilepsy, which caused these seizures. After trying everything to help Charlotte, her parents finally decided to try medical marijuana, and it worked! Charlotte still had seizures, but now, she had maybe two or three seizures a month instead of three hundred a week. Charlotte’s story and many similar stories, along with medical research and sound reasons, have caused the public’s opinion about marijuana to change in favor of legalizing it, and I agree. I strongly believe that marijuana, and especially medical marijuana, should be legalized across the entire

Marijuana also has a natural antispasmodic quality, which has been proven to effectively treat those with seizures. Since its introduction into medical usage, doctors all around the United States have been able use the substance to treat chronic migraines. They have said that marijuana has been ten times more effective in treating migraines than any other conventional drug. (Arias, pp 3). This shows how effective and healthy the drug really is, and despite what many have said about the effects that marijuana has on the brain, researchers at Columbia University have found that THC in marijuana works to prevent Alzheimer’s disease by decreasing deposits in the

Marijuana has been proven to help in the fight and cure of neurological diseases and disorders. Toxicologist Paul Consroe believes that THC in marijuana may help tone down the spasms that people suffer with Huntington’s disease, spinal cord injuries and other disorders. His studies show that specialized proteins that serve as docks for THC, are in regions of the brain known to play a role in movement disorders. These receptors also bind to anandamide, a marijuana-like substance manufactured by the body. In a 1986 study, Consroe showed that cannabidiol, a component of marijuana, calmed the abnormal movements of five people suffering from dystonia, a condition that makes muscle spasms that contort the body(“Marijuana as Medicine“).