CTVNews.ca Staff Published Thursday, July 18, 2013 1:48PM EDT Last Updated Thursday, July 18, 2013 10:31PM EDT
Desperate parents of children with severe forms of epilepsy are starting to demand access to an unusual and experimental treatment made from marijuana.
But many doctors in Canada are saying that until there is more evidence that the treatment is actually helpful, theyre not going to be recommending it to patients.
Fifteen-year-old Teigan Janfield has suffered from severe epileptic seizures her whole life. She has a rare genetic disorder called Dravet Syndrome, also known as Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy (SMEI), which causes her to have several seizures a day.
"It's horrible and heartbreaking to see this repeatedly, her mother Paula Janfield told CTV News.
None of the 14 medications that have been prescribed to Teigan over her lifetime have stopped the seizures. Now, her mother is hoping to get her an experimental treatment called CBD, or cannabidiol. The drug is a liquid marijuana extract that many say helps to stop the seizures.
CBD comes from a strain of cannabis that is high in cannabidiol but low in THC, the compound in marijuana that brings on the high of pot-smoking. Advocates of the treatment say it calms the brain without intoxicating children.
CBD is legal for children in some U.S states, including Colorado, but parents in Canada can't get the extract because they cant find doctors who will prescribe it.
Still, many parents in the U.S. report CBD has dramatic results. California father Jason David says he has been giving CBD to his six-year-old son Jayden, who also has Dravet Syndrome. He says Jayden has been seizure-free for nine months.
Advocates like Dr. Margaret Gedde of the Clinicians Institute for Cannabis Medicine say CBD can significantly change the lives of children with epilepsy.
Read this article:
Pot or not? Why parents of kids with epilepsy want access to marijuana treatment