Pubdate: Tue, 26 Nov 2013
Source: Patriot-News, The (PA)
Copyright: 2013 The Patriot-News
Contact: http://www.pennlive.com/mailforms/patriotletters/
Website: http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1630

HERSHEY 3-YEAR-OLD'S CONDITION MAKES A CASE FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

If Pennsylvania legislators would heed the plight of 3-year-old 
Hershey resident Garrett Brann, they would agree to take a more 
rational approach toward the medical use of marijuana.

Garrett has Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that starts in 
infancy. The disease wracks his body with seizures, as if random 
jolts of electricity are repeatedly shooting through him.

With his debilitating condition, Garrett frequently falls and can't 
feed himself. His family has tried roughly 10 different types of 
anti-seizure drugs.

One treatment might help, but it is illegal in Pennsylvania.

"Charlotte's Web" is an oil derived from marijuana plants. It comes 
from a benign strain of marijuana, one that has almost no THC, the 
chemical that gives users the euphoric "high." Patients take the oil 
with food, not by smoking.

Other families whose children suffer serious seizures have used the 
oil extract, with good results. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN's chief medical 
correspondent, documented how marijuana is helping treat a child with 
chronic seizures in Colorado, where medical marijuana is legal.

Garrett's mother told WITF's Radio SmartTalk Monday she didn't know 
if the marijuana oil extract will help her son. But the family would 
like to give it a try and is considering a move to Colorado.

Garrett, his family and others facing similar medical challenges 
deserve to have every possible tool that might help them, right here 
in Pennsylvania.

Garrett's story has helped make a believer of conservative Republican 
Sen. Mike Folmer, of Lebanon. He is co-sponsoring legislation to be 
introduced this week, allowing limited uses of marijuana for medical 
purposes, like treating Garrett, under strict regulation.

Folmer, a cancer survivor himself, spoke eloquently on WITF's 
SmartTalk about how important it is for patients and their doctors to 
have every possible weapon in their fight against debilitating or 
incurable diseases.

He is working with Democratic Sen. Daylin Leach on details of the 
bill. It looks as if the final version will make sure the marijuana 
is non-hallucinogenic and subject to strict controls to prevent 
abuse. (Folmer noted on SmartTalk that industrial hemp has a higher 
THC content than the strains that supply the medicinal oil.)

It's not yet clear how the Leach-Folmer bill will treat other medical 
uses of smokable marijuana. Chemotherapy patients have reported that 
it helps combat the nausea and loss of appetite that are common side effects.

Skeptics note that the federal Food and Drug Administration has not 
approved marijuana for any medical use. In part, that's because the 
War-on-Drugs mentality has inhibited research on potentially 
beneficial uses. For reasons that defy common sense, marijuana 
remains classified as the worst kind of illegal drug under federal 
law, in the same class as heroin and LSD. Marijuana is considered 
even more harmful than cocaine and OxyContin.

The federal government has said that it will not crack down on 
legitimate medical use of marijuana in states where it is legal. But 
if states are lax with their rules or enforcement, and they don't do 
enough to keep the drug away from minors and drug traffickers, the 
feds will swoop in, as happened last week in Colorado.

Those raids show how important it is for Pennsylvania to set - and 
enforce - super-tight controls over medical marijuana use. That's no 
easy task. But society has found a way to balance the risks and 
benefits of allowing patients to take medically useful, but addictive 
and easily-abused drugs like morphine and OxyContin. Surely, 
Pennsylvania can do likewise with the medicine that offers hope to 
patients like Garrett.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom