Pubdate: Thu, 24 Apr 2014
Source: Montreal Gazette (CN QU)
Page: A13
Copyright: 2014 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.montrealgazette.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/274
Author: James Miller

B.C. FAMILY SEEKS POT TO HELP EPILEPTIC DAUGHTER

PENTICTON, B.C. - When a retired police officer from Summerland, B.C.,
left his job after 25 years, he hardly imagined fighting for his
little granddaughter to be given marijuana.

Chris Nuessler, along with his wife, Elaine, wants Canada to allow
2-year-old Kyla Williams to be given a form of medical marijuana known
to prevent epileptic seizures.

The girl's parents, Jared and Courtney Williams, along with the
Nuesslers, have been researching medical pot use and speaking with
experts to build what they're calling "Kyla's medical team."

They say Kyla has suffered severe side effects from prescription drugs
when she could be helped like other children in the United States.

A strain of marijuana commonly called Charlotte's Web has been known
to help kids in the U.S., but it's illegal in Canada.

It contains very little THC, which provides the buzz recreational pot
users crave, and is mostly made up of CBD, which limits the severity
and frequency of seizures.

In Canada, the only form of legalized medical marijuana is dried, so
Kyla would have to smoke it.

Chris Nuessler said his view of marijuana as medicine has radically
changed since his policing days.

"For me, it was back to the 1980s and 1990s mindset when I was busting
people. I had to do a 180 (degree turn) and start researching this."

Kyla appeared to be a healthy, little girl for the first six months of
her life, until her mother noticed she wasn't progressing at a normal
rate and had unusual eye movements.

After she was seen by a pediatrician, Kyla was rushed to BC Children's
Hospital in Vancouver, where retractable seizure disorder was diagnosed.

Over the next year, the tot was placed on a series of prescription
drug mixtures.

"The drugs aren't really working, and we were told there's really
nowhere she can go," Elaine Nuessler said.

In March, Kyla's mother and grandmother made a trip to Vancouver and
were told Kyla's life expectancy would be short.

The next day, Courtney's 91-year-old grandfather called to tell her
he'd seen a CNN report on Charlotte's Web and how it's been known to
help children with cancer and epilepsy.  
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