Marijuana: Jack’s Amendment, Carly’s Law and Mary Ann Coleman’s fight for a drug that works
Would you give medial marijuana to your ill child if you thought it would help them? In Alabama, Mark Coleman wants to use marijuana to treat his 13-year-old daughter, Mary Ann Coleman. She has low-functioning autism.
Al.com reports:
Monday wasn’t a very good day for 13-year-old Mary Ann Coleman… The report sent home from Glenwood Autism & Behavioral Health Center where Mary Ann attends day school shows she tried to hurt herself 337 times Monday while at school or riding the bus, her father Mark Coleman said. That number has been as high as 800; a typical day though is about 40.
“(Mary Ann) scratches herself to the point where she bleeds,” he said. “She hits herself upside the ear. She pulls her hair out. She slams her head into the wall …. She has gone through my bay window. She had gone through two windows at school.”
Mr Coleman just thinks marijuana could help his daughter. He wants to be allowed to try it and not be branded a criminal for doing so. As he says:
“I promise her doctor would say, if it was legal, he would say we might as well try it. We have tried everything else. We might as well try this.”
Fair point.
Mary Ann has seen a neurologist, child psychiatrist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and a behavioral therapist for her disorders. She is on an ever-changing round of prescription medications to block the neuroreceptors in her brain. None seem to work for long.
Says dad:
“I would like for her to be able to try (medical marijuana) without me going to prison.”
Alabama is debating marijuana. One point of discussion is to allow certain patients would also be allowed to grow up to 16 plants of marijuana under the legislation.The qualifying diseases include:
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS – Lou Gehrig’s disease)
Anorexia
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)/ Attention deficit disorder (ADD)
Autism
Bipolar disorder
Cachexia
Cancer
Cerebral palsy
Chronic depression
Chronic pain
Dystonia
Fibromyalgia
Gastrointestinal disorders, including, but not limited to, colitis, Crohns disease, and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
Glaucoma
Lupus
Migraines
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Parkinson’s disease
Persistent muscle spasms, including, but not limited to, spasms associated with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS-Lou Gehrig’s disease), multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Rheumatoid arthritis
Seizures, including, but not limited to, seizures associated with epilepsy
Severe nausea
Tourette’s syndrome
In 2014, Alabama legalized the use of a marijuana-derived oil, called CBD oil, for medicinal use.
The bill, commonly called Carly’s Law in honor of the 3-year-old Carly Chandler of Birmingham, would allow the University of Alabama at Birmingham UAB’s Department of Neurology, to prescribe the drug, which advocates for the law say helps children with debilitating seizures.
Waff.com has more:
AB researchers say they could get the go ahead any day now to start their study. It focuses on how a marijuana-derived oil may help manage seizures. The oil is non-hallucinogenic…
“When you have a child suffering and it’s all failed, it’s pretty tough,” explained Dustin Chandler. The new law is named for his daughter, Carly Chandler. At three years old Carly suffers from 200 seizures every single day. They’re caused by a rare condition called CDKL5.
But any day now her father could get word from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that help for his daughter and others is on its way.
The FDA’s approval would bring the University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB) and Children’s of Alabama one step closer to starting the study. Doctors will use CBD to treat patients like Carly with the goal of to controlling seizures.
“There’s no guarantees and we know going into that with Carly. But, we just want it as another option,” added Chandler.
Surely it’s worth a try…
Meanwhile, in Colorado:
A bill that cracks down on large unregulated medical marijuana grows owned by caregivers was amended Monday in a House committee to allow a student’s prescribed medical marijuana onto school property.
Jack’s Amendment is named for Jack Splitt, a 14-year-old middle school student from Lakewood, whose mother testified that her son cannot attend school while medical marijuana is banned from school property.
Splitt has dystonia, a neurological movement disorder that causes his muscles to contract uncontrollably, and spastic cerebral palsy, both of which are helped by medical marijuana.
Senate Bill 14 passed unanimously with the amendment and is headed to the Appropriations Committee before it can be considered by the full House.
Stacey Linn, Jack’s mother, said if SB 14 becomes law with Jack’s Amendment intact, her son can return to school.
“It’s his favorite thing to do,” Linn said, noting that other kids get to take prescribed speed and narcotics on school property.
If you child is ill and weed helps them, what would you do..?
Posted: 28th, April 2015 | In: Reviews Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink
