Chicago, IL – Illinois recently extended an experiment to test whether a special version of marijuana called Charlotte’s Web could help those on the spectrum. The green oil is cultivated by a Colorado company and has less THC, the component of the plant that gets users high, and more CBD, a component of the plant that helps users relax.
This is welcome news to Randy Gross whose family moved to Colorado because of theirten-year-old son Chase. In addition to being on the spectrum Chase has head dropping epileptic seizures that, until he had ready access to CW, happened frequently throughout the day with mere moments between them. Now he has only a few, with 20-30 minutes between them.
Despite this good news many are cautious about getting tangled in the Web before there is enough hard evidence to support it’s use. Dr. Kevin Champman who treats children with epilepsy at Children’s Hospital Colorado says he’s only seen anecdotal stories like the above. He and his team reviewed 58 charts of children who used the oil to treat their epilepsy and found that only a third of parents reported improvement.
Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple, a suburban Chicago doctor who has given accredited lectures about medical marijuana for the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians thinks CW should be only used when no other option works. She said,
“There is good evidence of long-term harm of chronic marijuana use on the developing brain under 18 years of age.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health made the announcement about marijuana’s use in December. Like adults, the drug can be used to treat any of the forty listed illnesses. Unlike adults, children who it’s usage must have two notes from a doctor instead of one.
The health concerns and statics of reported improvement is not shared by the Parents Coalition for Rescheduling Medical Cannabis. They are a national grassroots group of parents of children mostly with epilepsy, but also autism, cancer, and other conditions. They released a video this past weekend on You Tube that can be viewed below.
Please note some of the opening scenes may be disturbing for some viewers.
Parents Coalition for Rescheduling Medical Cannabis Facebook Page
Autism Daily Newscast: Parent Group Seeks Federal Rescheduling of Marijuana