It's Been A Blessing

Shandar

New Member
Marietta – The Klepinger family moved from Marietta to Monument, Colorado, about a year ago.

They moved not for a new job opportunity or to be close to family, but because their son, Hunter, experiences epileptic seizures, and cannabis oil, a medicine the family is using to treat them, is not legal to purchase or even possess in Georgia.

Aaron Klepinger, Hunter's father, said his 9-year-old son could have a hundred seizures a day before the move, but since he started using cannabis oil, his quality of life has risen considerably.

"It's improving our lives drastically because our son is being helped so much," he said.

The oil is derived from marijuana, but has very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance that makes the user feel high. Aaron said the day Hunter began treatment with the cannabis oil, he saw an increase in Hunter's cognitive ability and noticed Hunter seemed more aware.

Aaron says the family wants to come home to Marietta, and a bill pre-filed for the coming legislative session might be the beginning of their journey back.

State Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon) submitted the bill, dubbed House Bill 1, on Monday. Peake said the bill would decriminalize possession of cannabis oil, create a regulated infrastructure to provide for the oil's manufacture and sale in the state and allow registered patients to have access to the treatment.

At the moment, Peake's bill is just a placeholder – the details of the bill will be written in mid-December and introduced once the 2015 legislative session begins – but Peake said he wanted to get the bill in as soon as possible to send a message that the issue is a priority for the General Assembly.

Still, Peake said the framework of the bill is in place.

"(The bill) expresses the intent of the legislation, which is very simply this: We want to bring Georgia's medical refugees who have had to move to another state to have access to cannabis oil, we want to bring them home," he said. "And so, we want to provide some protections from prosecution for families that have moved to another state so they can come home immediately, as long as they have proof that they've obtained the cannabis oil legally in another state."

State Rep. Matt Dollar (R-east Cobb) said the bill has a very good chance of reaching the governor's desk next year. Dollar, who knows the Klepinger family personally, said the General Assembly should do whatever it can to help families facing their situation.

"It's very silly they're not able to get this medicine for their kid," Dollar said. "This isn't about drugs, it's about medicine, and almost 100 percent of people I've talked to were able to fairly easily understand and get that difference almost immediately."

'An expiration date'

Aaron said Hunter's seizures began when he was about four months old, and doctors told the family Hunter would not live to be a teenager.

"(They) basically gave him an expiration date," he said.

The cause of the seizures has yet to be diagnosed, and Aaron says the family has tried 12 different treatments to try to alleviate Hunter's symptoms.

A ketogenic diet, basically a special high-fat regimen meant to control the frequency of the seizures, sent Hunter to the hospital. He had become acidotic, meaning he had acid in his blood.

Hunter has also had a pacemaker-type device installed on his spine which Aaron said sends an electrical signal to prevent seizures from happening. The device works somewhat: Aaron said Hunter's seizures decreased from about 100 per day to about 50, but the shock is said to be painful.

The medications Hunter took had a variety of side effects.

"Sometimes he was up for 24 hours a day," Aaron said. "Other times he was asleep for 24 hours a day. We'd take him to school and he'd just sleep the whole day. Horrible screaming fits, where he'd just scream for hours. The withdrawals from some of them were just horrific. Just screaming for days on end. Just really hard to handle."

Running out of options, the family moved to Colorado, near Colorado Springs, last November to try treating Hunter's seizures with cannabis oil.

It was a tough move for the Klepingers.

Dawn Klepinger, Hunter's mother, grew up in east Cobb where her parents, and Hunter's grandparents, still live.

Still, the family packed up and moved across the country after hearing success stories of cannabis oil treatment. Aaron works in IT and is able to work remotely, so he said the move has been easier on his family than for most.

"It's been a blessing for us, and we've been lucky to have the option," he said. "But unfortunately, a lot of families don't."

According to the Epilepsy Foundation of Georgia, more than 150,000 people in the state have epilepsy or have a seizure disorder.

Aaron said Hunter's seizures have decreased by about 75 percent since he began the cannabis oil treatment. Aaron's noticed no side effects, but he has seen physical and mental changes in Hunter.

"The very first time that we gave him the cannabis oil, not only did we see a huge decrease in seizures, but we saw an increase in some cognitive abilities and relaxation and happiness – a whole lot of things we weren't expecting."

Aaron picks up the oil at a special dispensary and gives it to Hunter with an oral syringe.

The oil Hunter uses is made by a nonprofit organization called Realm of Caring, which manufactured the oil after meeting Charlotte Figi, a 5-year-old girl diagnosed with epilepsy. The oil is called Charlotte's Web.

Aaron said he first heard about cannabis oil and Charlotte's Web when it was featured on a CNN documentary.

"The reason we went with them was not only our familiarity, but the fact they're a nonprofit organization started by a group of Christian-schooled brothers and a woman who had a daughter with seizures," he said. "So we knew that their intentions were good. They grew the plant organically and had the utmost attention to detail and quality."

Aaron described the oil's manufacturing process.

"Basically, what they do is they take the cannabis plant – it's a non-psychoactive version of it. They breed out the psychoactive part of the plant. They take the plant material and they extract the oil out if it."

The oil goes to a lab, where it is treated and tested for contaminants to make sure it's pure, Aaron said. It's then mixed with olive oil and sold to those with a prescription.

Dollar: Bill became 'political pawn'

Aaron said his family wants to come back to Marietta, and he's hopeful about Peake's bill.

"HB 1 would likely get my family home, which I am extremely happy about," he said. "Lawmakers and the governor have worked hard to come up with a solution that allows a tightly restricted medical cannabis access."

Aaron and Dawn have two other sons: 2-year-old Julian was born in Georgia, but 4-month old Chase was born in Colorado, or "in captivity" as Aaron called it.

The Klepingers want to get back to their family and friends and the life they had in Marietta, Aaron said. They still own a house in east Cobb.

All the same, Aaron remembers the failure of a bill in the 2014 legislative session, HB 885, which would have allowed for cannabis oil to be sold and possessed in Georgia. It passed both houses of the General Assembly, but didn't get to Gov. Nathan Deal's desk because the Senate and House versions of the bill couldn't be reconciled.

"I partially renewed my lease in Colorado because I don't have faith in the process after 2014's HB 885 failure," he said. "I want to believe that the Legislature and governor will do the morally just thing for Georgia's kids, but I'm conservative and unwilling to act on hope when we already have medicine that's working in Colorado. I act on facts until there are no choices left. Then hope is a last resort. I don't understand how a highly limited bill with a mass amount of legislative support failed last year, and I don't know what to trust anymore."

Dollar said the bill failed because of a dispute between the two houses of the General Assembly.

"It just got caught up and became a political pawn between the House and the Senate last year," Dollar said.

Peake said the state Senate attached a totally separate bill to HB 885.

"It was a mandate to insurance companies to provide autism coverage," Peake said. "(It) already had been told to the senators that that bill was not going to pass in the House. But they attached it anyway, thinking that they could leverage off of the momentum that HB 885 was having. And in the end, that's what derailed the passage of the bill."

State Rep. Don Parsons (R-east Cobb) said he strongly supported HB 885. Parsons is on the House Health and Human Services Committee and heard firsthand testimony from families of children who have seizures. Parsons said the testimony "moved" him, but the issue was made real when he saw a young girl having a seizure outside the State House.

"I was leaving the Capitol one day, and I heard some screaming and yelling and noises," he said. "And I looked across the street, I was actually getting ready to go into the parking garage, and there was a young parent, a young lady over there with her child. This child's about 13, I think, 13 years old. And she was having what they call a drop seizure, where she was down on the ground. This young mother was trying to get her up and get her to the car."

The family was at the Capitol to lobby for HB 885's passage. Parsons said he went to the girl and tried to help, but the seizure was too strong. Eventually, two state troopers came along and were able to help the girl's mother get her to the car. Since that time, Parsons said he's found out those types of seizures can happen multiple times every day.

Seeing the seizure was a "wake-up call," Parsons said.

"It's a terrible thing that we can't do something to help those kids and the parents of those kids. It really is," he said. "It's one of those things you almost have to really see, I believe."

Peake said passing bills such as HB 1 is "the highest calling" a public official can have.

"Here's an opportunity to do something that drastically changes the quality of life for a family, for an entire family, and possibly maybe even save some of these children," he said, adding the bill's passage could help hundreds of thousands of Georgia families.

State Sen. Judson Hill (R-east Cobb) said he's looking forward to seeing what the bill looks like when it comes out of the House. Hill said early reports indicate the oil helps patients suffering from seizures, but it's critical the state makes sure the legislation is done right.

"I think it's important that we look at the best interests of our children across our state and young people that could possibly benefit, and also do that in a wise, informed way because I don't believe that the science has been proven out," Hill said. "And the FDA has not approved these measures, so how we do it and how we protect those very patients we're trying to help is an important measure for me to look at. So I look forward to seeing the report that comes out of the House of Representatives committee."

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News Moderator: Shandar @ 420 MAGAZINE ®
Source: The Marietta Daily Journal - It s been a blessing
Author: Ricky Leroux
Contact: https://mdjwebcontent.com/mdj/09mdjContactUs.pdf
Website: The Marietta Daily Journal - It s been a blessing
 
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