JEFFERSON CITY A personal plea from a senator whose 9-year-old son has intractable epilepsy caused tears on the Senate floor Thursday, followed by unanimous approval of a bill legalizing a promising marijuana-based treatment aimed at helping such victims.
With the Senates vote, the bill to allow people with severe, persistent seizures to try an oil derived from cannabis plants as a treatment now goes to Gov. Jay Nixon.
The legalization of oils high in cannabidiol, or CBD, but low in tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the chemical that creates the high experienced from marijuana consumption, is part of a national trend. The CBD oil has shown promise in treating children with intractable epilepsy.
The bill, which unanimously passed the Missouri Senate, would strictly regulate the production and distribution of CBD oil. Only two nonprofit companies would be licensed to grow cannabis plants and produce and distribute the oil to registered patients. A neurologist would have to certify the child or adult had already tried at least three other treatments.
The bill also includes provisions for the states agriculture department to make rules to test the plants to make sure they are high in CBD and below 0.3 percent THC and audit the licensed centers.
Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Glendale, told a hushed chamber that his son had his first infantile spasm at 11 months old and a four-hour seizure when he was 2 years old.
He was convulsing uncontrollable, foaming at the mouth, the bedspread was wet. It was a terrible moment for us, Schmitt said. There was nothing anybody could do. I remember holding his hand and praying.
Schmitt said Stephen was maxed out on all of his medications and that after looking into the CBD oil as a treatment, it sounded like a good option.
The hardest part is the fear. The fear that you live with that the next one could be that four-hour one or worse, Schmitt said. The promise of CBD oil is real ... I dont know if this will work. Weve had hope before. It might or it might not.
Clinical trials on a CBD extract are underway in the U.S., but they are limited to particular locations. The drug derived from marijuana plants is produced by a British-based company called GW Pharmaceuticals, and FDA clinical trials are being conducted at six U.S. locations.
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Hemp extract bill to treat epilepsy sent to Missouri governor