Jacob Redmond
Well-Known Member
Earlier this year I took a call from Janie Maedler, a mom who lives in Rehoboth Beach. It was the first time she had ever picked up the phone to call a state legislator. Janie's 9-year-old daughter, Rylie, suffered from debilitating seizures that were slowly taking away her young life.
After rounds of various unsuccessful treatments and after consulting with specialists at Johns Hopkins University, the Maedlers decided to try a new medicine for Rylie, a type of medicinal marijuana called cannabis oil. The positive results of the oils were immediate. Rylie's swelling and pains receded and her seizures reduced. Thankfully for Rylie, the physicians had hit the nail on the head, and found a treatment that worked.
Unfortunately for Rylie, the newly prescribed treatment that was now saving her life was illegal in her home state, as Delaware was one of just two of over a dozen states that allowed the use of medical marijuana for adults but not for minors.
Personally for me, legalizing cannabis oils, even for medicinal use, was a concern, and I shared that with Rylie's mom when we had that first phone conversation about possibly crafting legislation. Yet, in the beauty that makes Delaware politics and the work we do as legislators so meaningful, I was soon able to sit down with Rylie and her mother and hear their story face to face.
Meeting this remarkable 9-yearold made me realize the importance of putting aside my own preconceived notions, and along with a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, I began to steer other legislators and members of Delaware's medical community toward crafting legislation that could save Rylie's life and those of other Delaware children.
With invaluable guidance from physicians and staff from the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, the Delaware Department of Public Health and other stakeholders, Senate Bill 90, Rylie's Law, was drafted and became one of the most bipartisan pieces of legislation this session, with over 35 cosponsors and unanimous passage in both chambers of the Delaware General Assembly.
This legislation signed into law this week by Gov. Markell is a result of a deliberative process to collect as much meaningful scientific data as possible from the successes of other states along with the best practices from the brightest medical minds here in Delaware. We did this because we knew that here at home we had constituents who were suffering: children who were in pain. Pain that could be turned into healing with the use of oils that had proven results and that would be administered in a safe, responsible and legal manner.
Delaware, a state that prides itself on being first, could not afford to fall behind in providing quality healthcare for our children.
Rylie's Law is the perfect example of constituent-driven legislation that not only matters but makes a positive difference.
Thank you to Janie Madeler for the love and courage she showed in picking up the phone not just to call for her daughter, but to call for future generations of unnamed Delaware sons and daughters who will find healing through Rylie, under the law that will forever bear her name.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Rylie?s Law: Constituent-driven legislation that matters - By Dr. Ernesto B. ?Ernie? Lopez - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
Author: Dr. Ernesto B. Lopez
Contact: Contact Cape Gazette - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
Photo Credit: Dennis Forney
Website: News - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
After rounds of various unsuccessful treatments and after consulting with specialists at Johns Hopkins University, the Maedlers decided to try a new medicine for Rylie, a type of medicinal marijuana called cannabis oil. The positive results of the oils were immediate. Rylie's swelling and pains receded and her seizures reduced. Thankfully for Rylie, the physicians had hit the nail on the head, and found a treatment that worked.
Unfortunately for Rylie, the newly prescribed treatment that was now saving her life was illegal in her home state, as Delaware was one of just two of over a dozen states that allowed the use of medical marijuana for adults but not for minors.
Personally for me, legalizing cannabis oils, even for medicinal use, was a concern, and I shared that with Rylie's mom when we had that first phone conversation about possibly crafting legislation. Yet, in the beauty that makes Delaware politics and the work we do as legislators so meaningful, I was soon able to sit down with Rylie and her mother and hear their story face to face.
Meeting this remarkable 9-yearold made me realize the importance of putting aside my own preconceived notions, and along with a bipartisan group of senators and representatives, I began to steer other legislators and members of Delaware's medical community toward crafting legislation that could save Rylie's life and those of other Delaware children.
With invaluable guidance from physicians and staff from the Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, the Delaware Department of Public Health and other stakeholders, Senate Bill 90, Rylie's Law, was drafted and became one of the most bipartisan pieces of legislation this session, with over 35 cosponsors and unanimous passage in both chambers of the Delaware General Assembly.
This legislation signed into law this week by Gov. Markell is a result of a deliberative process to collect as much meaningful scientific data as possible from the successes of other states along with the best practices from the brightest medical minds here in Delaware. We did this because we knew that here at home we had constituents who were suffering: children who were in pain. Pain that could be turned into healing with the use of oils that had proven results and that would be administered in a safe, responsible and legal manner.
Delaware, a state that prides itself on being first, could not afford to fall behind in providing quality healthcare for our children.
Rylie's Law is the perfect example of constituent-driven legislation that not only matters but makes a positive difference.
Thank you to Janie Madeler for the love and courage she showed in picking up the phone not just to call for her daughter, but to call for future generations of unnamed Delaware sons and daughters who will find healing through Rylie, under the law that will forever bear her name.
News Moderator: Jacob Redmond 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Rylie?s Law: Constituent-driven legislation that matters - By Dr. Ernesto B. ?Ernie? Lopez - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
Author: Dr. Ernesto B. Lopez
Contact: Contact Cape Gazette - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
Photo Credit: Dennis Forney
Website: News - CapeGazette.com - Covering Delaware's Cape Region - Inland Bays, Atlantic Ocean, Rehoboth Beach, Lewes, Milton, Dewey Beach, USA
