Charlotte’s web and the treatment of seizures in children
Charlotte’s Web was named after Charlotte Figi. She was having
over 300 seizures a week, until her parents began using medical marijuana for
her at age 5. Her seizures dropped to about 3 over an 8 month period. When
Charlotte’s father was stationed in Afghanistan, he began looking to the
internet for ways to help his daughter. There was a danger in that marijuana’s
THC can actually trigger seizures.
There is a difference
between Charlotte’s Web and recreational marijuana. Charlotte’s web was
developed by 5 brothers in Colorado through a breeding process which has created
a variety that has less tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and more cannabidiol (CBD) than regular varieties. Marijuana that creates the high feeling is
high in THC. The CBD in Charlotte’s web
has proven to not produce any of the effects of THC. The CBD appears to have seizure fighting properties. In October, the Food and Drug Administration approved
testing of a British firm’s marijuana drug that is CBD based and all of the TCH
has been removed. The Stanley brothers who make the plant in Colorado now
provide marijuana to 300 patients and have a waiting list of 2000. In their marijuana, the CBD is extracted by a
chemist who once worked for Pfizer. It is then mixed with olive oil that can be
placed in a feeding tube or swallowed. It is then sent to a third-party lab to
test its purity. The Stanley’s foundation is called “The Realm of Caring
Foundation.” According to Main St. Family Health, the Stanley’s’ have said that
the medical oil that they use currently is actually made from hemp. The first week of March, 2014, the Israel
health ministry decided that parents should be able to access state controlled
medical marijuana for children with pediatric seizures. This change came about after 15 families were
denied treatment for their children and made plans to move to Colorado. There are approximately 13,000 medical
marijuana patients in Israel.
People with children
who have seizures have been flocking to Colorado, because medicinal marijuana
was banned in their state. The need is
so great that there are reports of non-authorized suppliers selling products
that are not actually Charlotte’s Web. The relocated families have formed a
close community in Colorado Springs where the dispensary is located. The vice president
of the American Epilepsy Society suggest that parents move closer to pediatric epilepsy
centers instead. Don Burger rented a
home in Colorado so that Charlotte’s Web could be given to his 4 year old
daughter—the Doctors had suggested brain surgery instead, and that could only
stop some of her seizures. Ray
Mirazabegin, an optician, convinced the Stanley brothers to give him seeds so
that he can treat his 9 year old daughter who spent her days laying on the couch-she
now runs and plays. He opened a California branch of the Stanleys’ foundation.
Mirazabegian distributes the strain to 25 families at present and has a waiting
list of 400. The list includes people who are willing to relocate from Japan
and the Philippines.
Information for this article obtained from Main St. Family Health,
WNCN, Huffington Post, and CBS News.
