Pubdate: Thu, 27 Mar 2014
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press (TN)
Section: Page A1
Copyright: 2014 Chattanooga Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.timesfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/992
Note: Paper does not publish LTE's outside its circulation area
Authors: Tim Omarzu and Andy Sher

MEDICINAL MARIJUANA DIDN'T GET FAR HERE

Georgia Lawmakers Say No; Tennessee Leaves Door Open.

A medicinal oil made from marijuana that won't get you high - but has
parents moving to Colorado where it's used to treat children suffering
from hundreds of potentially fatal seizures each week - won't be
allowed in Georgia this year.

Georgia lawmakers did not pass legislation meant to make it easier for
parents to get the cannabis oil.

Meanwhile, Tennessee legislators left the door open a
crack.

A committee voted down a broad medical marijuana bill Tuesday. But
legislators still may approve a four-year study to determine whether
oil low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the component that causes
marijuana's "high," is effective at alleviating children's intractable
seizures, under a bill authored by Rep. Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah.

Under the legislation, he said, pot would be grown by a Tennessee
university and cross-bred to produce plants that contain only
minuscule amounts of THC.

"You can drink a bathtub of it and not receive any kind of high from
it," said Carter, a former judge.

Carter said he is responding to calls from parents of children with
"horrible, debilitating seizures" who are "being told this works.

"I want to know if it does," he said.

However, parents would have to wait at least a year for the study to
begin, because Carter estimates it would take that long to breed
low-THC pot plants here. And federal law prohibits transfers of
marijuana or its oil from other states, including Colorado.

While Carter's bill is still alive, the Tennessee House health
subcommittee voted 6-2 Tuesday against the Koozer- Kuhn Medical
Cannabis Act introduced by state Rep. Sherry Jones, D-Nashville. The
Jones bill went much further than Carter's and sought to legalize the
use of marijuana for a wider range of ailments and provided for a
regulated network of marijuana dispensaries and growing of the plant.

The lawmaker noted that 21 states plus the District of Columbia have
some form of medical marijuana programs and recalled that three others
had either approved it or were set to do so.

Asked how long it would take in the Volunteer State, Jones said, "I
suspect being Tennessee that we would prefer to be No. 49 or 50."

But she said she intends to bring the bill back again next
year.

One of the Koozer-Kuhn bill's supporters was Justin Koozer, a former
Ooltewah resident who moved to Denver with his wife, Annie, so the
couple can legally get cannabidiol oil for their daughter Piper's rare
form of epilepsy. The toddler sometimes suffered 250 to 300 spasms in
a six-hour period.

"We've met and talked to so many young children who are suffering from
epilepsy that could benefit from medical marijuana," Koozer said Tuesday.

A poll released in mid- February by Middle Tennessee State University
found that two-thirds of Tennessee voters favor legalizing marijuana
for medical uses.

GEORGIA LEGISLATION 'HIJACKED'

Georgia's legislation died because it was "hijacked and held as a
bargaining chip," said its author, state Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon.
The legislation died after the Senate added a requirement for
insurance companies to cover autism treatment in young patients - a
requirement that didn't have a chance in the House.

Peake said his legislation would have exempted parents from
prosecution in Georgia for possessing low-THC oil they got from
out-of-state.

"It's so low in THC you can't get high off it," Peake said. "In
Colorado, it's known as 'Hippie's Disappointment.'"

The Stanley Brothers, six Colorado brothers who grow marijuana there,
developed the strain that's high in cannabidiol, a component they say
is "extremely beneficial" for seizure treatment.

The brothers renamed the strain "Charlotte's Web" in honor of
Charlotte Figi, a 5-year-old Colorado girl whose nearly 300 seizures
a week basically stopped after her mother gave her oil made from the
Stanleys' marijuana. The Figis' story figured prominently in "Weed," a
documentary by Dr. Sanjay Gupta that aired in 2013 on CNN.

In a Feb. 28 statement, the American Epilepsy Society wrote that the
reports of cannabidiol's positive effects "give reason for hope."

"However, we must remember that these are only anecdotal reports, and
robust scientific evidence for the use of marijuana is lacking," the
statement reads. "The lack of information does not mean that marijuana
is ineffective for epilepsy. It merely means that we do not know if
marijuana is a safe and effective treatment for epilepsy, which is why
it should be studied using the well-founded research methods that all
other effective treatments for epilepsy have undergone."

Peake was inspired to write the legislation, dubbed "Haleigh's Hope
Act," after visiting Haleigh Cox, a 4-year-old girl from Forsyth, Ga.,
in his district. The girl was prescribed a cocktail of medications to
try to control as many as 100 seizures a day, but her family wanted to
try cannabidiol oil.

Peake's bill died on March 20, the General Assembly's last day of
session.

"It was a pretty disappointing finish to what was clearly an
initiative that had almost unanimous support from the Legislature,"
Peake said, vowing to introduce it next year if he's re-elected.

In the meantime, Gov. Nathan Deal may find a way to allow the oil's
use in Georgia.

"The governor said [Monday] that he will work with agency heads to see
if we can find a solution for these families. Beyond that, we have
nothing to add," Deal spokeswoman Sasha Dlugolenski said via email
Tuesday.  
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D