Mike Siegel/Seattle Times/MCT
On July 17, a 9-year-old girl who suffered from Dravet Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy, passed away in New York.
Anne Conte experienced hundreds of seizures weekly as a result of her medical condition. Her recent death has forced many people to question whether the medical marijuana bill that passed in New York earlier this month will take too long to go into effect.
Medicinal marijuana has been at the forefront of many political debates across the country over the past months. On July 5, New York became the 23rd state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes.
While Gov. Andrew Cuomo has already signed the bill, patients cannot be prescribed medical cannabis for another year and a half. Anne Conte’s death has made many people wonder whether time is running out.
Many people were first introduced to medical marijuana in the documentary “Weed,” which aired on Aug. 11, 2013 on CNN. Viewers followed Dr. Sanjay Gupta on his year-long study of marijuana. In that video, the world was first introduced to Charlotte Figi. At the time of the documentary, Charlotte Figi was six years old, suffering from epilepsy and experiencing over 300 seizures a week.
The Stanley Brothers had the solution. They own one of Colorado’s largest dispensaries and grow a special strain of cannabis that is high in CBD and low in THC. This strain of marijuana has since been named Charlotte’s Web after Figi.
The difference between Charlotte’s Web and recreational weed is the amount of THC levels present. The THC found in Charlotte’s Web is very low, so patients don’t experience the “high” feeling commonly associated with weed.
Since taking Charlotte’s Web, Figi’s seizures have decreased dramatically to the point where she is almost seizure-free. Since the documentary first aired in 2013, the Stanley Brothers have received thousands of phone calls from parents with sick children hoping to obtain the drug.
Even though people have watched Charlotte Figi make great strides, researchers are still skeptical about children using marijuana.
“The risks associated with long-term medicinal use are less well understood, particularly the danger of dependence and any heightened risk of cardiovascular disease, so more research is needed,” said Michael Carr-Gregg in his article “Giving medical marijuana the green light.”
While doctors are still identifying the long-term effects of medical marijuana, the American Medical Association has joined the debate.
“The American Medical Association conducted a review in 2009 and recommended rescheduling cannabinoid-based medicines to allow their legal prescription in the United States,” Carr-Gregg writes.
However, there are still more concerns. Many doctors fear the possibility of facing federal prosecution for distributing medical marijuana to ill patients. The issue lies between doctors merely recommending medical marijuana and actually prescribing it.
The Baltimore Sun published an article titled “Medical marijuana rules for doctors raise concerns,” highlighting the worries that doctors face.
“A number of the proposed regulations are either onerous or require illegal action on behalf of physicians,” said Rachelle Yeung in the article.
While there remain a large number of concerns, children’s lives have been positively effected by certain states’ legalization of the drug.
Either way, the medical marijuana debate is far from over.