Robert Celt
New Member
My eight-year-old daughter, Mary Louise, has suffered from seizures since she was nine months old. Her milder seizures are brief but overwhelming in frequency; sometimes as many as 200 in an hour. During stronger seizures, I have watched as she has stopped breathing and her face turned blue as I rushed to administer emergency medication that I prayed would bring her limp body back to life and allow her to regain her breath.
We have seen specialists up and down the East Coast, tried multiple medications and special diets — all with little success. Like many parents across the country, I was filled with hope when I first learned of the success of low THC cannabis oil — or "CBD oil" — that saved a young girl's life out in Colorado. But for me, moving to Colorado to receive this treatment was not a viable option. Fortunately, I was approached by two South Carolina lawmakers — State Senator Tom Davis of Beaufort and State Representative Jenny Horne of Summerville. They were working on legislation that would allow patients with epilepsy to possess this newly discovered CBD oil in South Carolina.
That was in 2014 and since the bill passed, it has been a very long and frustrating road to gain access to this medication. For the most part, it still had to be obtained through the black market and we rarely knew exactly what we were getting and how it was manufactured. And, although we have seen some great improvements for Mary Louise regarding her alertness, cognition, verbalization — and even decreased seizures — adequate seizure control still eluded us.
After speaking with many parents who are treating their epileptic children with medical cannabis in legal states, we have come to the realization that the whole plant — including THC (not just CBD) — is often needed for the most hard-to-treat seizures. THC doesn't just get people high. It interacts directly with cannabinoid receptors that exist in every single organ in our bodies — playing a role in every disease process that has ever been studied according to Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, who has done extensive research on cannabis as medicine in Israel.
That is why I have continued my fight for a full medical cannabis program in our state. Patients need safe, reliable access to cannabis as medicine not just for people with epilepsy — but to treat a multitude of conditions that do not adequately respond to options currently provided by modern medicine.
So today at the S.C. State House, an important piece of legislation regarding medical cannabis was to be heard in the Senate Medical Affairs Committee: S. 672, The South Carolina Medical Marijuana Act. This bill would allow patients suffering from certain qualifying conditions legal access to medical cannabis through a dispensary system with a doctor's recommendation and continued supervision.
I say the bill "WAS" to be heard because the committee meeting was cancelled. It seems the Senate needed more time in session to continue the now weeks-long discussion about South Carolina's roads and whether an increase in the gas tax is a reasonable means of paying for many long-overdue repairs. Unfortunately, this seemingly incessant debate is causing South Carolina patients — like my daughter — to continue to suffer. Of course the state's infrastructure is important for safety and commerce, but aren't patients' lives important, too?
While the Senate is discussing potholes and new road projects, somewhere in our state someone's child is having a life-threatening seizure, someone's sister is losing her battle with cancer and another veteran with PTSD will put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. These severe medical conditions (and many others) aren't limited by a patient's zip code — and neither should adequate treatment options. Twenty-three states plus the District of Columbia currently have medical cannabis programs and patients in those states, on average, have been able to reduce prescription drug use by 80 percent, reduce opiate overdose deaths by 25 percent and reduce suicide deaths by a minimum of 5 percent according to several studies.
Are these not positive outcomes we would like to see in South Carolina?
So, please, Senators, move on from the road issue, so that more important pieces of legislation can be discussed. You have a bill before you that has the opportunity to greatly improve or even save the lives of thousands of South Carolinians. Aren't patients more important than potholes?
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Time For South Carolina To Legalize Medical Cannabis
Author: Jill Swing
Photo Credit: None found
Website: FitsNews
We have seen specialists up and down the East Coast, tried multiple medications and special diets — all with little success. Like many parents across the country, I was filled with hope when I first learned of the success of low THC cannabis oil — or "CBD oil" — that saved a young girl's life out in Colorado. But for me, moving to Colorado to receive this treatment was not a viable option. Fortunately, I was approached by two South Carolina lawmakers — State Senator Tom Davis of Beaufort and State Representative Jenny Horne of Summerville. They were working on legislation that would allow patients with epilepsy to possess this newly discovered CBD oil in South Carolina.
That was in 2014 and since the bill passed, it has been a very long and frustrating road to gain access to this medication. For the most part, it still had to be obtained through the black market and we rarely knew exactly what we were getting and how it was manufactured. And, although we have seen some great improvements for Mary Louise regarding her alertness, cognition, verbalization — and even decreased seizures — adequate seizure control still eluded us.
After speaking with many parents who are treating their epileptic children with medical cannabis in legal states, we have come to the realization that the whole plant — including THC (not just CBD) — is often needed for the most hard-to-treat seizures. THC doesn't just get people high. It interacts directly with cannabinoid receptors that exist in every single organ in our bodies — playing a role in every disease process that has ever been studied according to Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, who has done extensive research on cannabis as medicine in Israel.
That is why I have continued my fight for a full medical cannabis program in our state. Patients need safe, reliable access to cannabis as medicine not just for people with epilepsy — but to treat a multitude of conditions that do not adequately respond to options currently provided by modern medicine.
So today at the S.C. State House, an important piece of legislation regarding medical cannabis was to be heard in the Senate Medical Affairs Committee: S. 672, The South Carolina Medical Marijuana Act. This bill would allow patients suffering from certain qualifying conditions legal access to medical cannabis through a dispensary system with a doctor's recommendation and continued supervision.
I say the bill "WAS" to be heard because the committee meeting was cancelled. It seems the Senate needed more time in session to continue the now weeks-long discussion about South Carolina's roads and whether an increase in the gas tax is a reasonable means of paying for many long-overdue repairs. Unfortunately, this seemingly incessant debate is causing South Carolina patients — like my daughter — to continue to suffer. Of course the state's infrastructure is important for safety and commerce, but aren't patients' lives important, too?
While the Senate is discussing potholes and new road projects, somewhere in our state someone's child is having a life-threatening seizure, someone's sister is losing her battle with cancer and another veteran with PTSD will put a gun to his head and pull the trigger. These severe medical conditions (and many others) aren't limited by a patient's zip code — and neither should adequate treatment options. Twenty-three states plus the District of Columbia currently have medical cannabis programs and patients in those states, on average, have been able to reduce prescription drug use by 80 percent, reduce opiate overdose deaths by 25 percent and reduce suicide deaths by a minimum of 5 percent according to several studies.
Are these not positive outcomes we would like to see in South Carolina?
So, please, Senators, move on from the road issue, so that more important pieces of legislation can be discussed. You have a bill before you that has the opportunity to greatly improve or even save the lives of thousands of South Carolinians. Aren't patients more important than potholes?
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Time For South Carolina To Legalize Medical Cannabis
Author: Jill Swing
Photo Credit: None found
Website: FitsNews
