Pubdate: Wed, 20 Nov 2013
Source: New Castle News (PA)
Copyright: 2013 New Castle News
Contact:  http://www.ncnewsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4228
Author: John Finnerty, CNHI

LOCAL FAMILY MOVING FOR MARIJUANA TREATMENT

HARRISBURG - Amy and Jamie Houk and their 5-year-old son, Cameron, 
are medical refugees.

The family is moving from New Castle to Colorado, where they can 
legally buy medical marijuana to treat Cameron's epilepsy.

Twenty states across the country, including Delaware and New Jersey, 
have legalized some form of medical marijuana. But Colorado is the 
place to get a special extraction of cannabis that shows promise in 
the treatment of pediatric epilepsy, Amy Houk said.

Medical use of marijuana is illegal in Pennsylvania. But legislation 
introduced in the Senate on Monday would allow doctors to prescribe 
the drug, which has been used to treat people suffering glaucoma, 
asthma, nausea and seizures.

The Houks and about 50 others rallied at the statehouse to support 
the bill, authored by Sen. Mike Folmer of Lebanon County and Sen. 
Daylin Leach of Philadelphia.

Without the law, Amy Houk said her family must leave.

Amy and Jamie have lived in Lawrence County their entire lives. Jamie 
works as a chemical mixer for a company that has locations in 
Colorado, but if he took a similar job there it would mean a 
substantial pay cut.

"We're leaving behind everything we've ever known," Amy Houk said.

The family must establish residency in Colorado to qualify for the 
medical marijuana, and then they can't take the drugs across state 
lines, so Cameron won't be able to leave the state. The producer 
harvests twice a year. The family got their application completed in 
October in order to get Cameron approved in time for the March 
harvest, Amy Houk said.

The drug cocktail being used now to help his seizures temporarily 
leaves Cameron largely unresponsive. About 30 minutes before he is 
due to take his medication, when the pharmaceuticals start to wear 
off, his mom notices Cameron start to come out of the fog.

"I get this little time with him," Amy Houk said. "He will make eye 
contact and I see that little boy again."

Even with the drugs, Cameron has frequent seizures. Cameron had two 
grand mal seizures while his mom held him during Monday's rally in Harrisburg.

His parents hope the medical cannabis - an extract mixed with olive 
oil and given by dropper - will abate his seizures without the side 
effects of the pharmaceuticals.

"There are kids that were catatonic, that were on feeding tubes" who 
have improved dramatically using medical marijuana, Amy Houk said.

It's the kind of success that a young girl, Charlotte Figi, 
experienced. Her mother, Paige Figi, joined the Harrisburg rally. She 
was accompanied by Josh Stanley, who leads a non-profit that 
manufactures the cannabis extract used to treat children with seizure 
disorders.

Charlotte went from having 300 seizures a week to three a week. Her 
improvement was featured in a CNN documentary on the medical 
marijuana debate and has prompted scores of families across the 
country to do what the Houks are doing - pulling up stakes and moving 
to Colorado.

While the parents clamor for quick action, there is little consensus 
that the research is clear enough to warrant immediate policy changes.

Pennsylvania Medical Society spokesman Charles Moran said the 
organization has put off taking a position on medical marijuana, 
relying instead on the stance of the American Medical Association.

The national doctors' group has called for more research on its effectiveness.

Attorney general Kathleen Kane opposes any effort to legalize 
marijuana for recreational use, but is taking a wait-and-see approach 
on medical marijuana, her spokesman Joe Peters said.

The Pennsylvania State Association of Nurses has also called for more 
research, but the organization has publicly stated that medical 
marijuana should be decriminalized for those suffering from glaucoma, 
asthma, seizures, and nausea.

Gov. Tom Corbett's office has said he will veto any marijuana 
legalization bill, even if it would be limited to medical uses.

The Associated Press reported the governor's opposition stems from 
the perception that marijuana is a "gateway drug" that leads users to 
more dangerous ones.

John Hanger, the former Environmental Protection secretary, has made 
decriminalization of marijuana part of the platform in his bid for 
the Democratic nomination to challenge Corbett in 2014. Hanger said 
resistance to efforts to legalize medical marijuana is based on "paranoia."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom