Haley Smith is 14 years old, and last year she suffered from about 1000 seizures, some while she slept.
Haley Smith is 14 years old, and last year she suffered from about 1000 seizures, some while she slept.
She first started medical treatment for epilepsy at age two. Doctors delayed exposure to what her mother called harmful drugs for as long as possible to stop them from stunting her mental and emotional growth.
This morning, sitting in a Senate hearing committee, young Haley’s condition manifested before the 15-member Committee on Education and Health as she began to seize.
“This is normal for me, this is daily for me,” said Lisa Smith, Haley’s mother.
Smith, and others, gathered at the GA today in the hopes of convincing Virginia Senators that they or their children need access to a form of marijuana which is thought to help treat seizures, THC-A oil and CBD oil.
Senator David W. Marsden, D-37, armed with SB 1235, is hoping to give Smith and others access to the drugs some doctors believe will help their kids.
But he knows he’s working in uncharted and legally confusing territory.
“Like any medicine, it can be abused if altered,” said Mardsen before the committee this morning. “We allow caught drops with dextromethorphan that can be abused with large quantities, nasal congestants with pseudoephedrine which can be used to make methamphetamines. Just about any medication we get over the counter or with prescription can be abused. Just like these other medications, if the THC-A oil can be altered through heating… they would no longer fall under protection of these laws.”
Marsden said Virginia was lagging behind the 34 other states and Washington DC, who have already started to address marijuana as a medical alternative.
“Virginians shouldn’t have to become medical refugees in their homes, or live in other states, to have a high quality of life for them and their children,” he said.
Among those defending medical marijuana was Beth Collins. She said she was speaking on behalf of her daughter, as well as the quarter-million Virginians who suffer from some sort of epilepsy which could be treated by this form of pot.
Collins daughter Jennifer was suffering so much, they split the family apart so she could get treatment in Colorado where the medical drug is legal.
After a year in CO, Collins said her daughter’s quality of life had greatly improved.
“Not only did her seizures lessen drastically, but we were able to lower the doses of her pharmaceutical medications, the rages stop, the thoughts of suicide stopped, she lost the 30 lbs she gained upon starting the medication, and her grades improved,” she said.
Jennifer’s treatment involves three drops of THC-A oil a day under her tongue.
“We got our daughter back,” said Collins.
The Senate Committee only heard testimony on medical marijuana today; an actual vote is planned before the end of the 2015 session.
