Utah Bill Would Allow Cannabis Treatment For Kids

(Photo: Bari Adams/Flickr)

A Utah lawmaker has sponsored a bill that would allow access to certain forms of marijuana believed to stop seizures in kids.

Rep. Gage Froerer introduced HB 105 to the Utah legislature this week, following through on a promise he made last fall to a group of mothers with epileptic children.

If passed, the bill would allow cannabis extracts containing less than 0.3% THC, the main psychoactive ingredient, to be imported to the state and administered to patients. More importantly, Froerer says the bill would allow parents to give the treatment to minors.

“It’s not a drug and not psychoactive… all this does is give parents and families the ability to have an opportunity to improve their kids’ lives.”

Marijuana with such low levels of THC will not be able to get anyone high. But it can contain high levels of cannabidiol (CBD), a compound that has shown promise in reducing seizures in patients with severe epilepsy.

In fact, researchers at UCSF Pediatric Epilepsy Center and NYU Langone Medical Center have just begun clinical trials on a pharmaceutical version of CBD. But these trials are expected to take over a year.

Although Froerer originally intended to help children with the disorder, adult sufferers have also contacted him to share their success stories. The bill leaves the door open for other conditions as well, he says.

“The only evidence I’ve seen is that CBD oil is effective for some forms of epilepsy and seizures. But if research shows it works for other health problems, that’s great.”

HB 105 refers to the preparations as “hemp extracts,” because of their similarity to the industrial crop. But while hemp also has low levels of THC, industrial strains are rarely rich in CBD.

So far, only a few breeders have managed to develop CBD-rich cannabis. The group of Utah mothers hope to import a strain from Colorado known as Charlotte’s Web, which was specifically bred for a young girl with Dravet syndrome.

Under HB 105, patients seeking cannabis treatment would require approval from both a doctor and the Utah Department of Health. The bill will be brought through the Senate by Sen. Steve Urquhart.

Froerer says he is now working with 12 other state legislatures that are interested in introducing similar bills.

Source Leaf Science