Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jan 2014
Source: Douglas County Sentinel (GA)
Copyright: 2014 Douglas County Sentinel, Douglasvcille, GA.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/J7vysmDh
Website: http://www.douglascountysentinel.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5444
Author: Ron Daniel

LOCAL FAMILY COULD BE HELPED BY MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL

Local Family Could Be Helped by Medical Marijuana Bill

Three-month-old Kason Jiles of Lithia Springs has spent two-thirds of 
his short life at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta.

Kason has a Ohtahara syndrome, a neurological disease characterized 
by seizures that can number from 10 to 75 a day, his father Jonathan 
Jiles said. The disease is severely progressive, with some who have 
it dying in infancy and others surviving with profound handicaps, 
according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

But Jonathan Jiles is hoping a bill introduced in the state House by 
Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) on Tuesday that would allow limited access 
to medical marijuana will improve his son's quality of life if it passes.

Jiles said the cannabis oil that would be allowed in the law can stop 
the seizures his infant son has and certainly reduce them.

"It's possible that this could completely stop everything and he 
could go through school just like the other kids and graduate and all 
of that," Jiles said. "He could still have 100 issues. The way it's 
set up I believe that we can keep a real tight rein on recreational 
usage while at the same time being able to help an array of different 
patients."

Rep. Micah Gravley (R-Douglasville) was the only freshman lawmaker to 
be among the first five co-sponsors, also known at the Capitol as a 
"front-page signer." The bill, known as "Haleigh's Hope Act," has 
over over 80 co-sponsors total.

Haleigh's Hope Act would revive a long-dormant research program 
allowing academic institutions to distribute medical marijuana to 
those suffering from specific medical conditions. Haleigh Cox is a 
young girl who suffers from a medical condition that causes severe 
seizures, and Peake was spurred to draft the bill after meeting with 
her and her parents.

Gravley has met with the Jiles family as well as many others in his 
district, which encompasses parts of Douglas and Paulding counties. 
And like Peake, who serves as the secretary/treasurer of the Majority 
House Caucus, Gravley has been moved by the results he's seen from 
the cannabis oil from seizure patients that have used it in states 
where it is legal.

Gravley said Tuesday at the Capitol was "surreal" as he sat in a room 
with Peake and penned his name to the bill. He said he quoted Esther 
4:14 from the Bible: "...for such a time as this, for such a time as this."

"I know this bill, if passed, will help the kids of Georgia and 
specifically it will help kids in the two counties that I represent," 
said Gravley.

When the bill was publicly introduced Tuesday, Peake was joined by 
parents of many of the children the cannabis oil would help. Jiles 
said he intended to be at the Capitol for the ceremony, but couldn't 
get there because of the inclement weather.

A state law passed in 1980 established the academic research program 
allowing for the limited use of medical marijuana for those diagnosed 
with glaucoma and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and 
radiation, but the program ceased soon after when the federal 
government stopped delivery of legal cannabis, according to a 
legislative research memo.

The proposed bill would add seizures to the list of medical 
conditions allowed in the program, and Peake said the cannabis oil 
being distributed would be "limited in scope, tightly restricted, 
well regulated and managed by doctors." The drug would be 
administered orally in a liquid form, and Peake was adamant that it 
would not open the door to widespread, recreational use of marijuana 
in the state.

"I am concerned as anyone that we would get to a slippery slope of a 
broader scope of marijuana use in the state," Peake said. "I promise 
you I will fight that with every bit of energy in me. I promise you, 
this is not legalized marijuana for recreational use. We are not 
going down that path."

Peake said he has received the support of the Medical Association of 
Georgia, the largest group of physicians in the state, and does not 
expect to see opposition from law enforcement groups. Twenty states 
provide some form of access to medical marijuana, Peake said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom