Medical Marijuana: A Natural Alternative

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.

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)

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.

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.

Charlotte’s seizures started when she was three months old. She was not diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome until she was 2 ½ years old. Charlie was put on a ketogenic diet which helped decrease the seizures, but it had terrible side effects on her. Two years after starting the diet, the seizures came back and Charlotte’s parents turned to cannabis oil. Charlotte could not walk, talk, and eat until she was started on cannabis oil. She was also suffering from 300 grand mal seizures a week says Brian Resnick, in the article “The Case For Legalizing Medical Cannabis for Kids.” Immediately the cannabis oil took effect and decreased her seizures to just two or three seizures a month. Charlotte began to talk and eat again after taking cannabis oil. Not only did cannabis oil help decrease Charlottes seizures, but it helped take Mykayla off of

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.

The last option for the hospital was to induce a coma, but Charlotte’s parents were against the idea. Finally, after many therapeutic interventions, they decided to attempt Cannabis, or marijuana. They found that researchers think cannabidiol (CBD) “quiets the excessive electrical and chemical activity in the brain that causes seizures” (2013). A marijuana strain with high CBD and low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which causes the psychoactive “high”, is difficult to find because of the higher demand for THC’s psychoactive effects, according to the Stanley brothers, one of Colorado’s largest marijuana growers and dispensary owners (qtd. in Young 2013). Because the normal Cannabis plant is high in THC content, growers had to cross-breed repeatedly to end up with a high CBD content. Nonetheless, after finding the strain, extracting the oil, and starting her out on a small dose, her seizures stopped for eight days; subsequently, they occur two to three times per month. As reportedly the youngest applicant for medical marijuana, the high CBD, low THC marijuana extract was named “Charlotte’s web” after

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.

Epilepsy affects 50,000,000 people worldwide (Cure Epilepsy). Almost 500 new cases are reported each day in the United States. Thirty percent of these cases are from children (Cure Epilepsy). Instead of living a life of happiness, these children are fighting for their lives, hoping they can see the next day. However, it does not have to be this way. There is a possible cure for epilepsy,but many countries have banned the use of this product. Some countries now allow their citizens the use of marijuana oil, more commonly referred to as CBD, or cannabidiol. CBD is believed to cure certain terminal illnesses. Many scientists are now

Charlotte Figi, an eight-year-old girl from Colorado with Dravet syndrome, a rare and debilitating form of epilepsy, came into the public eye in 2013 when news broke that medical marijuana was able to do what other drugs could not: dramatically reduce her seizures. Now, new scientific research provides evidence that cannabis may be an effective treatment for a third of epilepsy patients who, like Charlotte, have a treatment-resistant form of the disease.

Many children suffer from Epilepsy which is a brain disorder that causes people to have recurring seizures. The seizures happen when clusters of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain send out the wrong signals. Seizures and epilepsy affect infants and children more than any other age group. Over the year’s doctors have done extensive research to discover what would reduce seizures; however nothing seemed to work until the discovery of using medicnal pot. I think that once the United States removes that bad

One of the most controversial topics in modern times has been the medical efficacy of Cannabis. Cannabis is a plant that is used medically and recreationally and is classified as an herb, noticeable by its five spiked leaf structure (Merriam-Webster 2014). Cannabis contains multiple active ingredients that display a variety of psychological and neurological effects on humans and animals. Cannabis is the medical terminology for marijuana, which contains greater than 500 compounds and more are still being found as the years progress. Many of the compounds are referred to as cannabinoids and may show some antiepileptic factors when administered to individuals with epilepsy (Gloss and Vickery 2012). The public today believes that the cannabis prescribed to patients and individuals with drug resistant epilepsy are experiencing psychotropic effects (the feeling of what we know today as getting “high”). In reality the cannabis used to treat individuals with epilepsy is low in delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] a psychotropic ingredient and high in cannabidiol [CBD] a non-psychotropic ingredient. Since CBD results in no psychotropic effects it has immense potential to be seriously considered as the worlds next biggest anticonvulsant solution.

There is no cure for the disorder and in some cases, it is deemed fatal. One in three epilepsy patients do not respond to traditional medicines and treatments. Introducing marijuana to epilepsy patients has shown to be a positive solution. They don’t actually have to smoke the plant. They are given CBD, which is one of the main compounds in marijuana. They are not exposed to THC, which causes the feeling of euphoria. Therefore, they do not get “high”. It has also been shown to be anticonvulsant and have antipsychotic effects. Establishing CBD as a safe and effective drug treatment has become the goal of many doctors that have epileptic patients. There are not many studies that have been conducted on it, but it doesn’t show any severe or life-threatening side effects.

Glaucoma is a condition which can lead to blindness if left untreated. It is caused mainly by the increase pressure in the eye. Marijuana is made primary of cannabis which contains Cannabinoids. Cannabinoids successfully lowers the pressure in the eye making it a possible cure for glaucoma. What about patients who suffer from epilepsy or seizures? In 2015 at the New York University medical school researchers have found a fifty percent decrease in the patients using Cannabidiol(CBD). Cannabidiol is simply defined as a compound found in marijuana except it will not make the person high. Many parents of children who suffer from seizures are being treated with Cannabidiol.

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