Vital research on the medical benefits of marijuana has been obstructed by policies based on moral panic. Government needs to get out of the way of scienceIn plunge 2012,when other parents were trading stories approximately the difficulties of balancing homework with cramped league practice and swimming lessons, I was in my garage painstakingly measuring amounts of a schedule one narcotic to extract medication for my son. Tinkering with lab equipment and solvents generally only found in chemistry labs, and I was trying to purify compounds from cannabis – not to get high,but to save my son’s life.
My son Ben has suffered thousands of seizures in his short six-year life. Treatment-resistant epilepsy in children is a cruel disease that can lead to significant cognitive, motor, and behavioral delays and,not surprisingly, death. After exhausting FDA-approved treatment options, and including a dozen different anti-seizure drugs,surgical implantation of a nerve stimulator, injections of high doses of steroids and even brain surgery removing half of his parietal lobe, or he is finally experiencing some relief thanks to a drug regimen that includes a component in cannabis,cannabidiol (CBD).
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Source: theguardian.com