Katelyn Baker
Well-Known Member
Fall River - It looks like a jelly jar filled with honey, but the contents are really a scientific mixture of medical marijuana to combat a little girl's rare epileptic syndrome.
"I dose each individual cupcake and then bake," said the girl's mom, Pam Laliberte-Laliberte-Lebeau. "Chocolate definitely hides the flavor the best. But she likes to switch it up."
On this day, Hope, 9, was taking the first dose of her medicine in a mini vanilla cupcake spread with as much strawberry frosting as it could hold.
Hope eats three cupcakes a day, every day, giving her 1 milliliter of cannabis each time.
"We saw a difference in her right away, physically and socially," Laliberte-Lebeau, a City Councilor, said.
Before Hope started using medical marijuana four months ago, she'd been on practically every epilepsy medication on the market, sometimes taking four or five medications at a time. She was on steroids for two years and on a ketogenic diet for one year.
"Everything works for a while then stops," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
Even though Hope's seizures were under control with her medication, the constant spike waves in her brain interrupted her sleep and disrupted her train of thought. Hope was tired all the time. She fell asleep at school, slept on the ride home from school and wasn't involved in any activities.
"Her spike waves are down 20 percent," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
Hope goes to day camp now and is involved with theater, something she never would have been able to do before taking medical cannabis.
"She's like a different kid," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
The main barrier to obtaining medical marijuana right now is locating a place where it can be purchased.
While there is a cannabis clinic in Fall River where patients can obtain a certificate for use, the closest dispensary, In Good Health, is in Brockton. There are three dispensaries and one grower who are undergoing the process of attempting to open in Fall River. Patients can also grow their own cannabis.
Like Hope, others are willing to overcome the hurdle for their health.
Monique Pichette is another case of someone whose condition was improved with medical marijuana.
"I started to use cannabis because I was allergic to nausea medication," said Pichette, a 40-something nurse, Army veteran, and former body builder who is in remission from cancer.
Pichette was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, but it was when the cancer came back 18 months later and she was sickened by radiation and chemotherapy that she sought medical marijuana as an alternative therapy.
She was frail, had lost her hair and one breast, and was not eating. Pichette was depressed and worried about her history of anorexia.
"I was nauseous from chemotherapy. It feels like cement running through your body," Pichette said. "That's when I can remember sobbing... my crooked scarred boobies and now my hair was falling out."
Pichette started to hear about the growing use of medical marijuana and did some research.
"I learned that this is medicine and it's OK," Pichette said. "There's a whole medical world behind it."
After getting her medical marijuana certificate - cancer is one of several qualifying conditions for cannabis use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - she went through the process of figuring out the correct dose for her, which varies by person and condition.
"Start slow and dose low," Pichette advised.
Harvard Medical School trained Dr. Jordan Tishler is such a believer in the benefits of medicinal cannabis that after 15 years as an emergency room physician, he opened a medical marijuana facility outside Boston.
After treating many patients with addiction to alcohol, heroin and psychoactive drugs, Tishler noticed he'd never seen an overdose of marijuana. That fact, coupled with new medical marijuana legislation prompted him to do some research.
"I'm a very conventionally trained doctor," Tishler said.
Now, a couple of years after opening his practice, Inhale MD, Tishler is glad to see continuing research in cannabis use for medical and mental illness.
Medical marijuana is currently used to treat symptoms and side effects of cancer, glaucoma, depression, anxiety, insomnia, Chrohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, anorexia, arthritis, and other chronic and debilitating conditions.
"People worry about getting high," Tishler said. "There's plenty of meds that make you feel low. What's wrong with a medicine that makes you feel good?"
For many patients, reducing THC, the cannabinoid molecule responsible for the "high" can be erased or minimized by increasing the CBD, another cannabinoid with healing properties, but no "high."
Pichette, like Tishler, is turning marijuana into a career. She's using her nursing background and has become a cannabis nurse navigator and runs Nique-Wear, a cancer inspired apparel and products company. One of her products is a CBD punch.
"I want to educate and advocate for patients who want to use (cannabis) in their treatment," Pichette said. "My goal is to work with other nurses and establish a national program."
If medical marijuana became more mainstream, patients like Hope and her mom would have an easier time with the whole process.
Making medication for Hope takes some work.
Laliberte-Lebeau boils the THC in grapeseed oil for six hours one day, and then two hours each for the next two days. The oil tincture is then mixed at East Coast Labs in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with CBD at the correct ratio for Hope.
Once that's done, Laliberte-Lebeau makes cupcakes for the child.
"It tastes awful," Laliberte-Lebeau said. "That's why we bake it in cupcakes."
The price tag: about $500 per month, which Laliberte-Lebeau said is on the "low end" for medical marijuana patients. It isn't covered by insurance.
"The process is like trying to run through mud," Laliberte-Lebeau said. "Her only other option after this is steroids or brain surgery."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Regardless Of Their Age, Medical Marijuana Provides Hope For These Fall River Users
Author: Deborah Allard
Contact: 508-676-8211
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Herald News
"I dose each individual cupcake and then bake," said the girl's mom, Pam Laliberte-Laliberte-Lebeau. "Chocolate definitely hides the flavor the best. But she likes to switch it up."
On this day, Hope, 9, was taking the first dose of her medicine in a mini vanilla cupcake spread with as much strawberry frosting as it could hold.
Hope eats three cupcakes a day, every day, giving her 1 milliliter of cannabis each time.
"We saw a difference in her right away, physically and socially," Laliberte-Lebeau, a City Councilor, said.
Before Hope started using medical marijuana four months ago, she'd been on practically every epilepsy medication on the market, sometimes taking four or five medications at a time. She was on steroids for two years and on a ketogenic diet for one year.
"Everything works for a while then stops," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
Even though Hope's seizures were under control with her medication, the constant spike waves in her brain interrupted her sleep and disrupted her train of thought. Hope was tired all the time. She fell asleep at school, slept on the ride home from school and wasn't involved in any activities.
"Her spike waves are down 20 percent," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
Hope goes to day camp now and is involved with theater, something she never would have been able to do before taking medical cannabis.
"She's like a different kid," Laliberte-Lebeau said.
The main barrier to obtaining medical marijuana right now is locating a place where it can be purchased.
While there is a cannabis clinic in Fall River where patients can obtain a certificate for use, the closest dispensary, In Good Health, is in Brockton. There are three dispensaries and one grower who are undergoing the process of attempting to open in Fall River. Patients can also grow their own cannabis.
Like Hope, others are willing to overcome the hurdle for their health.
Monique Pichette is another case of someone whose condition was improved with medical marijuana.
"I started to use cannabis because I was allergic to nausea medication," said Pichette, a 40-something nurse, Army veteran, and former body builder who is in remission from cancer.
Pichette was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, but it was when the cancer came back 18 months later and she was sickened by radiation and chemotherapy that she sought medical marijuana as an alternative therapy.
She was frail, had lost her hair and one breast, and was not eating. Pichette was depressed and worried about her history of anorexia.
"I was nauseous from chemotherapy. It feels like cement running through your body," Pichette said. "That's when I can remember sobbing... my crooked scarred boobies and now my hair was falling out."
Pichette started to hear about the growing use of medical marijuana and did some research.
"I learned that this is medicine and it's OK," Pichette said. "There's a whole medical world behind it."
After getting her medical marijuana certificate - cancer is one of several qualifying conditions for cannabis use in Massachusetts and Rhode Island - she went through the process of figuring out the correct dose for her, which varies by person and condition.
"Start slow and dose low," Pichette advised.
Harvard Medical School trained Dr. Jordan Tishler is such a believer in the benefits of medicinal cannabis that after 15 years as an emergency room physician, he opened a medical marijuana facility outside Boston.
After treating many patients with addiction to alcohol, heroin and psychoactive drugs, Tishler noticed he'd never seen an overdose of marijuana. That fact, coupled with new medical marijuana legislation prompted him to do some research.
"I'm a very conventionally trained doctor," Tishler said.
Now, a couple of years after opening his practice, Inhale MD, Tishler is glad to see continuing research in cannabis use for medical and mental illness.
Medical marijuana is currently used to treat symptoms and side effects of cancer, glaucoma, depression, anxiety, insomnia, Chrohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, anorexia, arthritis, and other chronic and debilitating conditions.
"People worry about getting high," Tishler said. "There's plenty of meds that make you feel low. What's wrong with a medicine that makes you feel good?"
For many patients, reducing THC, the cannabinoid molecule responsible for the "high" can be erased or minimized by increasing the CBD, another cannabinoid with healing properties, but no "high."
Pichette, like Tishler, is turning marijuana into a career. She's using her nursing background and has become a cannabis nurse navigator and runs Nique-Wear, a cancer inspired apparel and products company. One of her products is a CBD punch.
"I want to educate and advocate for patients who want to use (cannabis) in their treatment," Pichette said. "My goal is to work with other nurses and establish a national program."
If medical marijuana became more mainstream, patients like Hope and her mom would have an easier time with the whole process.
Making medication for Hope takes some work.
Laliberte-Lebeau boils the THC in grapeseed oil for six hours one day, and then two hours each for the next two days. The oil tincture is then mixed at East Coast Labs in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, with CBD at the correct ratio for Hope.
Once that's done, Laliberte-Lebeau makes cupcakes for the child.
"It tastes awful," Laliberte-Lebeau said. "That's why we bake it in cupcakes."
The price tag: about $500 per month, which Laliberte-Lebeau said is on the "low end" for medical marijuana patients. It isn't covered by insurance.
"The process is like trying to run through mud," Laliberte-Lebeau said. "Her only other option after this is steroids or brain surgery."
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Regardless Of Their Age, Medical Marijuana Provides Hope For These Fall River Users
Author: Deborah Allard
Contact: 508-676-8211
Photo Credit: None Found
Website: The Herald News
