Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
One family's journey helped inspire a Netflix documentary and spawned new life-saving research at the University of Pennsylvania. Another family has a child that has begun to no longer need medication for her severe illness because cannabis oils changed her life. Still another successfully challenged the Mexican Department of Health in court over its laws against medical marijuana.
All three were on hand for the Cannabis and Children panel discussion at the first-ever World Medical Cannabis Conference in Pittsburgh.
Three parents with children with special needs talked about how giving daily doses of cannabis oils to their children helped improve their quality of life.
"Children, yes, use cannabis," said Andrew Hard, CEO of CMW Media, who moderated the hour-long panel. "It's great for them and it's great for their health. Yes, that may be a controversial thing to say, but yes, it also very much is the right thing."
The following stories are examples of the powerful effects of medical marijuana on those who needed it the most.
Harper Howard
Harper Howard was born April 12, 2010, with a rare non-hereditary, life-threatening genetic disorder called CDKL5, which causes difficult to control seizures.
Her mother, Penny Howard, of suburban Dallas, described the nightmare of watching their 19-month old-daughter have 40 seizures a day and feeling helpless. When Harper wasn't having a seizure, she was emotionless and didn't respond to any stimulation.
"It threw us into a whirlwind," said Howard.
For three years the family lived in hell. They tried 10 different kinds of medications on Harper but none of them helped. The therapists at her school threatened to remove her because she wasn't showing signs of improvement.
Howard documented the struggle online, so others experiencing the same circumstance could know they were not alone.
In 2013, the family saw a documentary that showed how cannabis oils can help stop seizures. Desperate to try them on Harper, they agreed to risk purchasing the online drug RSHO, or Real Scientific Hemp Oil, and add it to Harper's regular medical routine.
Immediately they noticed a difference.
"Upon the first dose, her seizures were cut in half," Howard said. "The second week she was verbalizing to us. She never did that. She looked us in the eyes. We never had eye contact. They didn't kick her out of therapy. She began to have a life."
Soon Harper and her sister Lilly were fighting over what movie to watch and the family learned Harper's favorite color, her favorite number – she had broken out of her shell.
By documenting the transformation online, Katiele Fischer, of Brazil, whose daughter Annie also had CDKL5, saw Harper's success. She began importing the cannabis oils and Annie started to have the same results as Harper.
Then the Brazilian government stepped in and stopped the imports from coming. Fischer sued the government saying it could not take away these life improving drugs. She won the case. A court ruled it would be "inhumane" to keep the drugs away from Annie. Within two years, three other Latin American countries followed suit.
It became the subject of the Netflix documentary "Illegal."
As for Harper, her story wasn't over. In fact it was about to take a tragic turn.
Six months after starting RSHO, she was seizure free and stayed that way for the next three years. Unfortunately, though, on Jan. 8, 2016 Harper succumbed to CDKL5. The family was devastated.
To keep Harper alive in her own unique way, the family donated her organs to science. She is the first organ donor to have cannabidiol in her system. Researchers around the world could see how the drug was helping Harper while she was alive to possibly develop a treatment. They could also research the use on the drug for patients with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and a host of diseases with seizures as a symptom.
Harper's brain is currently being studied at the University of Pennsylvania. Within the next 12 months the Howard family will travel to Penn to view the brain under a microscope. The family says this is just the next phase of Harper's life.
"We want to see Harper leave this legacy, share this hope in her new form," Howard said, "I don't think she died. She just moved on to a new form."
Lillyann Baker
Lillyann Baker, 3, of Baltimore, was accidently dropped on her head when she was an infant, which caused a traumatic brain injury. As a result, she developed epilepsy, which causes severe seizures. The injury means Barker must use a wheelchair. Before beginning RSHO, Lillyann didn't smile or laugh and her therapists feared she would be taken out of school.
Yet rather than rely solely on prescription medications to treat her daughter, Lillyann's mother Cassandra Stephan decided to try cannabis oils to see if they would have any positive effect. After trying six different products over the course of a six month period, Stephan said she discovered RSHO, which worked wonders.
"It's kept her seizure free for over a year now," she said. "Her doctor has decided to start weening her off of one of her medications because we haven't needed to touch it."
The good news doesn't stop there. Lillyann has started to smile, to laugh, she's even crawled on the floor. She's also begun making progress in school.
"I get letters from school all the time saying how great she's doing," Stephan said. "At first she wasn't doing anything. Now she's happy. She's fun. She shows emotions. Our family calls it our medical miracle."
Grace Elizalde
Raul Elizalde and his family were the first in Mexico to sue the federal government and win the right to import cannabidiol hemp oil to treat their daughter Grace's severe form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaux Syndrome.
Before then, Grace's condition was so bad that the Elizalde family watched helplessly as Grace would have about 400 seizures a day.
"That is not having a life," Elizalde said.
When he first heard the idea of trying cannabis oils to help reduce the seizures, Elizalde said he rejected it. Soon though, he started doing research and realized it might be worth a try. Doctors didn't have any other solutions for Grace.
Elizalde and his family agreed that it was worth trying but unfortunately the oils were illegal in Mexico. The Mexican Health Department denied their request to access the drugs, stating their wasn't enough evidence that they could help Grace.
"We don't care if there's not enough evidence," he said. "If there's a little evidence we should try it."
A Mexican federal judge agreed and overruled the health department's decision.
The first signs of improvement were almost instantaneous. Grace started sleeping through the night, after months without sleeping from the constant seizures. Then Grace's mood started to improve and the family noticed other positive signs of change taking place.
After two months of receiving the oil treatments, Grace's seizures were reduced by 50 percent.
"The treatment exceeded our expectations." Elizalde said. "Grace is more focused, she is happier and she looks different."
Today at 10 years old, on a bad day, Grace will have between 10 and 20 seizures.
"If she has 20 seizures we feel badly," Elizalde said. "But then we remember she used to have 400."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania: Parents promote benefits of medical cannabis at Pittsburgh conference
Author: Eric Devlin
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Eric Devlin
Website: The Reporter: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & North Penn, Indian Valley and neighboring communities News
All three were on hand for the Cannabis and Children panel discussion at the first-ever World Medical Cannabis Conference in Pittsburgh.
Three parents with children with special needs talked about how giving daily doses of cannabis oils to their children helped improve their quality of life.
"Children, yes, use cannabis," said Andrew Hard, CEO of CMW Media, who moderated the hour-long panel. "It's great for them and it's great for their health. Yes, that may be a controversial thing to say, but yes, it also very much is the right thing."
The following stories are examples of the powerful effects of medical marijuana on those who needed it the most.
Harper Howard
Harper Howard was born April 12, 2010, with a rare non-hereditary, life-threatening genetic disorder called CDKL5, which causes difficult to control seizures.
Her mother, Penny Howard, of suburban Dallas, described the nightmare of watching their 19-month old-daughter have 40 seizures a day and feeling helpless. When Harper wasn't having a seizure, she was emotionless and didn't respond to any stimulation.
"It threw us into a whirlwind," said Howard.
For three years the family lived in hell. They tried 10 different kinds of medications on Harper but none of them helped. The therapists at her school threatened to remove her because she wasn't showing signs of improvement.
Howard documented the struggle online, so others experiencing the same circumstance could know they were not alone.
In 2013, the family saw a documentary that showed how cannabis oils can help stop seizures. Desperate to try them on Harper, they agreed to risk purchasing the online drug RSHO, or Real Scientific Hemp Oil, and add it to Harper's regular medical routine.
Immediately they noticed a difference.
"Upon the first dose, her seizures were cut in half," Howard said. "The second week she was verbalizing to us. She never did that. She looked us in the eyes. We never had eye contact. They didn't kick her out of therapy. She began to have a life."
Soon Harper and her sister Lilly were fighting over what movie to watch and the family learned Harper's favorite color, her favorite number – she had broken out of her shell.
By documenting the transformation online, Katiele Fischer, of Brazil, whose daughter Annie also had CDKL5, saw Harper's success. She began importing the cannabis oils and Annie started to have the same results as Harper.
Then the Brazilian government stepped in and stopped the imports from coming. Fischer sued the government saying it could not take away these life improving drugs. She won the case. A court ruled it would be "inhumane" to keep the drugs away from Annie. Within two years, three other Latin American countries followed suit.
It became the subject of the Netflix documentary "Illegal."
As for Harper, her story wasn't over. In fact it was about to take a tragic turn.
Six months after starting RSHO, she was seizure free and stayed that way for the next three years. Unfortunately, though, on Jan. 8, 2016 Harper succumbed to CDKL5. The family was devastated.
To keep Harper alive in her own unique way, the family donated her organs to science. She is the first organ donor to have cannabidiol in her system. Researchers around the world could see how the drug was helping Harper while she was alive to possibly develop a treatment. They could also research the use on the drug for patients with Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease and a host of diseases with seizures as a symptom.
Harper's brain is currently being studied at the University of Pennsylvania. Within the next 12 months the Howard family will travel to Penn to view the brain under a microscope. The family says this is just the next phase of Harper's life.
"We want to see Harper leave this legacy, share this hope in her new form," Howard said, "I don't think she died. She just moved on to a new form."
Lillyann Baker
Lillyann Baker, 3, of Baltimore, was accidently dropped on her head when she was an infant, which caused a traumatic brain injury. As a result, she developed epilepsy, which causes severe seizures. The injury means Barker must use a wheelchair. Before beginning RSHO, Lillyann didn't smile or laugh and her therapists feared she would be taken out of school.
Yet rather than rely solely on prescription medications to treat her daughter, Lillyann's mother Cassandra Stephan decided to try cannabis oils to see if they would have any positive effect. After trying six different products over the course of a six month period, Stephan said she discovered RSHO, which worked wonders.
"It's kept her seizure free for over a year now," she said. "Her doctor has decided to start weening her off of one of her medications because we haven't needed to touch it."
The good news doesn't stop there. Lillyann has started to smile, to laugh, she's even crawled on the floor. She's also begun making progress in school.
"I get letters from school all the time saying how great she's doing," Stephan said. "At first she wasn't doing anything. Now she's happy. She's fun. She shows emotions. Our family calls it our medical miracle."
Grace Elizalde
Raul Elizalde and his family were the first in Mexico to sue the federal government and win the right to import cannabidiol hemp oil to treat their daughter Grace's severe form of epilepsy known as Lennox-Gastaux Syndrome.
Before then, Grace's condition was so bad that the Elizalde family watched helplessly as Grace would have about 400 seizures a day.
"That is not having a life," Elizalde said.
When he first heard the idea of trying cannabis oils to help reduce the seizures, Elizalde said he rejected it. Soon though, he started doing research and realized it might be worth a try. Doctors didn't have any other solutions for Grace.
Elizalde and his family agreed that it was worth trying but unfortunately the oils were illegal in Mexico. The Mexican Health Department denied their request to access the drugs, stating their wasn't enough evidence that they could help Grace.
"We don't care if there's not enough evidence," he said. "If there's a little evidence we should try it."
A Mexican federal judge agreed and overruled the health department's decision.
The first signs of improvement were almost instantaneous. Grace started sleeping through the night, after months without sleeping from the constant seizures. Then Grace's mood started to improve and the family noticed other positive signs of change taking place.
After two months of receiving the oil treatments, Grace's seizures were reduced by 50 percent.
"The treatment exceeded our expectations." Elizalde said. "Grace is more focused, she is happier and she looks different."
Today at 10 years old, on a bad day, Grace will have between 10 and 20 seizures.
"If she has 20 seizures we feel badly," Elizalde said. "But then we remember she used to have 400."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Medical Marijuana in Pennsylvania: Parents promote benefits of medical cannabis at Pittsburgh conference
Author: Eric Devlin
Contact: Contact Us
Photo Credit: Eric Devlin
Website: The Reporter: Breaking News, Sports, Business, Entertainment & North Penn, Indian Valley and neighboring communities News