Ron Strider
Well-Known Member
A local mother is crediting cannabis-based treatment for preventing her 13-year-old son from dying of a condition that causes severe seizures.
Janice Taglieri and her son, Colton Schools, 13, of Ossipee spoke with the Sun on Thursday about how the marijuana treatment has helped the Kingswood Middle School student.
Colton suffers from Dravet Syndrome, which is characterized by severe, debilitating seizures. They can range from being barely noticeable to ones so severe that he has to be taken to the hospital.
The eighth-grader had a big seizure three weeks ago. Taglieri said they were in the kitchen. She had turned to the counter to cut him a slice of pie, when she heard him crash to the floor and start convulsing.
Taglieri said Colton is an example of why medical marijuana is needed.
"I don't think he would be here today without it," she said. "His last seizure prior to going on it was so severe I don't think he would here today." Following that seizure, he had to be airlifted from Memorial Hospital in North Conway and flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he was basically put into a medical coma.
Now, twice a day, Colton takes a liquid medication called cannabidiol (CBD) derived from marijuana. A dose is 9.4 milliliters. Taglieri said Colton had suffered from a relatively minor seizures just before he was supposed to get a dose, and after she gave it to him the seizure cleared up. She said it wouldn't work on a major seizure because he could choke.
Colton gets the CBD through a study at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
He hasn't needed to go to the hospital for seizures since he started taking it about a year and a half ago. Colton said the CBD is the best type of treatment he's tried so far.
CBD contains a minute amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component of marijuana that gets people high, but it's so low it doesn't impact Colton's thinking, Taglieri said
"Yet when we go to get it from the hospital it's under two locks, in two different safes; it has to be brought to us by two different people," said Taglieri. "They treat it like it's chemical warfare or something. The laws are so tight and so strict on it."
They hope eventually to be able to get it from a company like Adam and Amy Maritnese's Clean Green in Brownfield, Maine, because it's much closer than Lebanon.
Colton also lives with his dad, Tom, and younger brother, Nathan, 8. His adult brother, Thomas John, 25, lives in Massachusetts.
Taglieri said the family has considered moving to Colorado, where the laws are more generous to marijuana patients.
But the people in Colton's support network keep them in New Hampshire
"He has people here he cares about and people who care about him," said Taglieri. "There are amazing people in this community that really reached out and have done extraordinary things for him."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Mom credits medical cannabis treatment for saving son | Local News | conwaydailysun.com
Author: Daymond Steer
Contact: Contact Us | Site | conwaydailysun.com
Photo Credit: AP
Website: conwaydailysun.com | Seeking the Truth and Printing it
Janice Taglieri and her son, Colton Schools, 13, of Ossipee spoke with the Sun on Thursday about how the marijuana treatment has helped the Kingswood Middle School student.
Colton suffers from Dravet Syndrome, which is characterized by severe, debilitating seizures. They can range from being barely noticeable to ones so severe that he has to be taken to the hospital.
The eighth-grader had a big seizure three weeks ago. Taglieri said they were in the kitchen. She had turned to the counter to cut him a slice of pie, when she heard him crash to the floor and start convulsing.
Taglieri said Colton is an example of why medical marijuana is needed.
"I don't think he would be here today without it," she said. "His last seizure prior to going on it was so severe I don't think he would here today." Following that seizure, he had to be airlifted from Memorial Hospital in North Conway and flown to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where he was basically put into a medical coma.
Now, twice a day, Colton takes a liquid medication called cannabidiol (CBD) derived from marijuana. A dose is 9.4 milliliters. Taglieri said Colton had suffered from a relatively minor seizures just before he was supposed to get a dose, and after she gave it to him the seizure cleared up. She said it wouldn't work on a major seizure because he could choke.
Colton gets the CBD through a study at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.
He hasn't needed to go to the hospital for seizures since he started taking it about a year and a half ago. Colton said the CBD is the best type of treatment he's tried so far.
CBD contains a minute amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the component of marijuana that gets people high, but it's so low it doesn't impact Colton's thinking, Taglieri said
"Yet when we go to get it from the hospital it's under two locks, in two different safes; it has to be brought to us by two different people," said Taglieri. "They treat it like it's chemical warfare or something. The laws are so tight and so strict on it."
They hope eventually to be able to get it from a company like Adam and Amy Maritnese's Clean Green in Brownfield, Maine, because it's much closer than Lebanon.
Colton also lives with his dad, Tom, and younger brother, Nathan, 8. His adult brother, Thomas John, 25, lives in Massachusetts.
Taglieri said the family has considered moving to Colorado, where the laws are more generous to marijuana patients.
But the people in Colton's support network keep them in New Hampshire
"He has people here he cares about and people who care about him," said Taglieri. "There are amazing people in this community that really reached out and have done extraordinary things for him."
News Moderator: Ron Strider 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Mom credits medical cannabis treatment for saving son | Local News | conwaydailysun.com
Author: Daymond Steer
Contact: Contact Us | Site | conwaydailysun.com
Photo Credit: AP
Website: conwaydailysun.com | Seeking the Truth and Printing it
