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title: Medical Marijuana: Here's What Science Says About Whether it Works
description: It’s buyer-beware for medical marijuana users, since the data supporting the benefits of cannabinoids are still in flux, and most marijuana edibles aren’t well labeled
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author: Alice Park
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article:published_time: 2015-06-23T15:15:05.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:08:41.218Z
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og:description: It’s buyer-beware for medical marijuana users, since the data supporting the benefits of cannabinoids are still in flux, and most marijuana edibles aren’t well labeled
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twitter:description: It’s buyer-beware for medical marijuana users, since the data supporting the benefits of cannabinoids are still in flux, and most marijuana edibles aren’t well labeled
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![](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta09e0bbc53daa690/6987ee135f570fd910b196c7/marijuana-leaf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9)


# Here's What Science Says About Medical Marijuana

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6Ic4KUCK.m3u8" -->
## Video: Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids

[Watch (HLS stream): Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6Ic4KUCK.m3u8) (16:16)

![Inside the World of Medical Marijuana for Kids](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6Ic4KUCK/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-10-21. The story of a family's illegal cross-country drive to transport marijuana oil for their epileptic 3-year-old daughter. A look inside the quasi-legal, science free world of medical marijuana for children from TIME's Red Border Films_


![Alice Park](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b1ff6b12c3a4c3f/698a0b4397cdff3e366ba723/200116_Time_Headshots_Day552832-e1583529256299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)


![Alice Park](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b1ff6b12c3a4c3f/698a0b4397cdff3e366ba723/200116_Time_Headshots_Day552832-e1583529256299.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Alice Park


Senior Correspondent

Jun 23, 2015 3:15 PM UTC

![Alice Park](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b1ff6b12c3a4c3f/698a0b4397cdff3e366ba723/200116_Time_Headshots_Day552832-e1583529256299.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1:1)

by 

[Alice Park](https://time.com/author/alice-park/)


![Alice Park](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b1ff6b12c3a4c3f/698a0b4397cdff3e366ba723/200116_Time_Headshots_Day552832-e1583529256299.jpg?branch=production&width=96&quality=75&auto=webp)

## Alice Park


Senior Correspondent

Jun 23, 2015 3:15 PM UTC

There’s a big difference between anecdotal evidence and scientific proof, and the field of medical marijuana research is filled with more of the former than the latter—in part because marijuana is [notoriously difficult to study](http://time.com/3858353/the-great-pot-experiment/) because it’s classified as a schedule-1 drug.

Scientists led by Penny Whiting from University Hospitals Bristol in the U.K. [report in _JAMA_](http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2015.6358) that there is only moderate-quality evidence supporting the benefits of medical marijuana, and only for certain conditions. The majority of studies involving medical marijuana are of lesser quality and therefore more likely to be biased and provide unreliable results.

**MORE:** [Teens Don’t Smoke More Pot After Medical Marijuana Laws Passed, Study Finds](http://time.com/3922534/legalized-marijuana-teens-study/)

In all, Whiting and her colleagues analyzed 79 randomized trials, the gold standard in medical research in which volunteers are randomly assigned to take a cannabis-related product or a placebo. The studies evaluated marijuana’s ability to relieve a range of symptoms including nausea from chemotherapy, loss of appetite among HIV positive patients, multiple sclerosis spasms, depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, psychosis and Tourette syndrome. Most of the studies showed improvements among the participants taking the cannabinoid products over those using placebo, but in many, the scientists admitted that they could not be sure that the effect wasn’t simply due to chance since the association was not statistically significant.

**MORE:** [The Great Pot Experiment](http://time.com/3858353/the-great-pot-experiment/)

The strongest trials supported cannabinoids’ ability to relieve chronic pain, while the least reliable evidence involved things like nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy, sleep disturbances and Tourette syndrome. Cannabinoids were, however, connected to more adverse events such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, disorientation and hallucinations than placebo.


Summing up the state of the evidence, Whiting and her colleagues write that “Further large, robust, randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm the effects of cannabinoids, particularly on weight gain in patients with HIV-AIDS, depression, sleep disorders, anxiety disorders, psychosis, glaucoma, and Tourette syndrome.”

### Go Inside the Harvest of Colorado's Most Controversial Marijuana Strain

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt996485eeb7d40173/6986a6f0e53aba915f4d4c41/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014\. The Stanley Brothers have developed a popular strain of cannabis that has been found to be helpful in reducing seizures in some children. Charlotte's Web is high in a compound called cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the compound that causes a high. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt46da2c8281d5106d/6986a6f006f2c103d3331172/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Charlotte's Web grows on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltba17525c5d9e77c6/6986a6f1cd68488a9d096d0d/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

From left: Zachary Sobol, Michael Atchley, and Jared Stanley walk to the farm to prepare for harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6cda38d1be484643/6986a6f1810bbb5633c93c6e/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-4.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Rows of Charlotte's Web await harvest at the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltff67be1b6777c8f9/6986a6f2d0b6f235133067a5/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Jared Stanley helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt024c867bb25945c4/6986a6f206f2c1f97a331176/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-6.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Colin Sparks searches for seeds during the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's Charlotte's Web farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt81f2b8456857bbb2/6986a6f2169ab0d98127b8f9/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Discarded leaves of Charlotte's Web at a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc4560baa6474fe5a/6986a6f3cd804db3a9ccd24b/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-8.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Tim Knight helps in the harvest of Charlotte's Web on the Stanley brother's farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8270a5644d2f552/6986a6f355a859287da82fc7/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-9.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested on a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd21d20fbfa742f96/6986a6f3f983e73de0050087/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Zachary Sobol catches a ride on a trailer to the Stanley brother's farm during harvest of Charlotte's Web near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt06654b573df6e1d9/6986a6f5810bbbe553c93c76/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-11.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Rows of Charlotte's Web await travel to a drying facility after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt995ff264b357e64f/6986a6f5cd6848ed4e096d16/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-12.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

One of the Stanley brother's greenhouses growing cannabis near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt865a8c85a6102b8a/6986a6f53617606cc890e3ab/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-13.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Zachary Sobol hangs rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after harvest in Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37622e3d537ecede/6986a6f6d0b6f26d773067b4/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-14.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Penn Mattison, left, and Zachary Sobol, right, hang rows of Charlotte's Web to dry after being harvested from a farm near Wray, Colo. on Sept. 22, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb34ae4c07b7422cf/6986a6f5e53aba25e04d4c51/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-15.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

The Stanley brothers' new company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb7aae125134b7a40/6986a6f6d0b6f2620b3067b0/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A petri dish full of cannabis explants await transfer and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' lab in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd9e2a0e5dbf9e44d/6986a6f6169ab05fda27b8fd/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-17.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel awaits the cooling of agar to help induce rooting of transplanted cannabis plants at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt09656b0d48d699d1/6986a6f7e8524b3a5960516e/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-18.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

The lab notebook of molecular plant biologist and lab manager Bear Reel at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt767058e2af626a3f/6986a6f7d0b6f267cd3067b8/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-19.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

A flask of agar cools before explants of hemp are transplanted to help induce rooting and new growth at the Stanley brothers' company laboratory in in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME

![Charlotte's Web Stanley Brothers Pot Weed Marijuana Colorado California](https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3d827ffa0dc5265/6986a6f713c79f3c541943a6/charlottes-web-pot-weed-farm-colorado-20.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp)

Tissue cutter technician Meg Regan holds a vial of explants before sanitizing and transplanting at the Stanley brothers' laboratory in Boulder, Colo. on Sept. 23, 2014. Matt Nager for TIME


**MORE:** [Even in Colorado Medical Marijuana Can Still Get You Fired](http://time.com/3921738/coats-colorado-dish-medical-marijuana-work-law/)

That puts patients who try medical marijuana products at a crossroads — in 23 states and Washington, DC, laws allow doctors to recommend cannabis products for their patients for medical reasons. But with little in the way of solid scientific evidence for which products works best, and in which doses, it’s up to the patients to adopt trial-and-error to figure out which, if any cannabinoids help to relieve their symptoms.

Adding to the confusion for patients, [another study published in the same _JAMA_ issue](http://www.elabs10.com/c.html?ufl=c&rtr=on&s=x8pbgr,29n8i,2kek,43ig,g2u3,hb35,8zrx) shows that medicinal marijuana food products, which include things such as candies, brownies and teas, aren’t often labeled correctly when it comes to their most active cannabis ingredient, and that the amounts are inconsistent. Ryan Vandrey, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his colleagues evaluated the contents of 75 products from 47 different brands purchased at marijuana dispensaries in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Seattle, where medicinal marijuana use is legal. When they analyzed them for their content of THC and cannabinoids, the two most concentrated chemicals found in marijuana, they found wildly divergent amounts from what was noted on the products’ labels. Among them, only 17% were accurately labeled, with 23% of the products containing more of these compounds than listed, and 60% containing less than advertised. The labels noted that anywhere from 2 mg to 1000 mg of these agents were in the products, while the lab-based analysis revealed readings as low as 1mg to as high as 1237 mg. “When I have a health condition, and need to go buy my medicine, I want to make sure I know what I’m getting,” says Vandrey. “I want to make sure the dose I buy is the same today and the same the next time and the same the next time I buy it. I want reliability and accuracy so I don’t end up with problems.”


**MORE:** [How Much Does Marijuana Impact Your Driving?](http://time.com/3930541/marijuana-impact-driving/)

But medical marijuana products, he says, aren’t regulated by the same system that vets other pharmaceutical drugs. In fact, cannabinoids are not regulated at all, since the federal government still considers marijuana an illegal substance and therefore does not acknowledge that marijuana-based therapies exist at all. So far, 23 states have legislated such medicinal marijuana into legality, which means that legislation, and not scientific criteria, have “approved” these compounds for medical use. The results? “What we saw was that there cant’ be much if any consumer confidence within the cities we purchased and tested products,” says Vandrey.

For the larger medical marijuana distributors who see the emerging market as a profitable business, there’s the concern that profit motives may push them to under-deliver the amount of THC or cannabinoid they note on the label. And for the smaller outfits, it could be a matter of not knowing how to extract and measure the active ingredients from the cannabis plant and distribute it in a consistent way in a batch of tea or baked goods.


How can consumers know what they’re getting in a medical marijuana edible? They can do their homework and talk to other consumers and the dispensary about dosing of THC and cannabinoids, says Vandrey. Or they can try to test the products themselves, which some states offer in an effort to standardize and gain more control over these products. But ultimately, he says. “if states are going to supersede federal law and say we think there is medical benefit in marijuana, and we want it to be available to our residents, then it should also be the responsibility of the states to set up appropriate programs for regulating and overseeing the quality assurance and manufacturing standards for medications being sold.”


## Transcript

We don't wanna break the law. We don't wanna do this, we have to do this. Cannabis extract is illegal. And that's what my product is. I never stop thinking about the legal issues. As I cross into every state, that's breaking a lot of federal law. I don't believe that any of the law enforcement agencies want to lock out what is potentially a last treatment option for these patients. [ NOISE ] It's okay. It's okay. There still are many, many children and adults with epilepsy who can't be controlled with existing therapies. I cannot recommend using a medical marijuana product. It was worth it because it helps my daughter.

If it's helping kids, why isn't it. We thought, well, why can't you do it? [ MUSIC ] [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] This is about as big of a piece as we'd wanna cut at once. This is our first day of harvest. [ INAUDIBLE ] in here, that's the problem. Say we get this big girl [ NOISE ] Each plant is a whole- plant extract, so we have to cut the plant. And final, so we'll kinda put the next plant about right here. So as long as we all know. The size that we're cutting for has to dry, fully dry before we're able to process it in the lab. Now you're through that. Now you can start on the next one. Here is the next one.

I've got a, I've got a really nice one We stepped onto the field June 3rd. Is that your sandal? I'll fill this one up. Perfect. We planted 17 acres with an estimated 36, 000 plants. [ MUSIC ] We'll likely serve several thousand patients with this. These grow big. [ MUSIC ] Which is good. My name is Penn Madison and I am the head manager here at Stanley Brothers Social Enterprises. You need to change hands. [ LAUGH ] [ INAUDIBLE ] And we grow medical hemp. [ MUSIC ] We have a little girl, Nellie, who's two and a half. Yeah. Is that one hurting? Are you getting frustrated? Huh? She is intractable apolopsy.

That's a debilitating form of epilepsy. One in 26 people will have epilepsy in their lifetime. Three million Americans have epilepsy. 50 million people world wide have epilepsy. It is one of the most common neurologic disorders. Yeah. We had no idea wether or not medical help would work. What we did know is that, everything else we had tried had not. We'd seen specialist all over the country. We tried multiple anti- epileptic drugs. Hm- mm. Yeah? I would say in the last year too we have seen an increase in children that are here from out of state. That have been brought by families to try variants of medical marijuana.

[ MUSIC ] The laws in Tennessee didn't allow us to have this delivered to us there. It didn't allow this to be an option to give it to her there. [ MUSIC ] So the option of moving to Colorado to pursue medical marijuana was a viable option for us. And so we chose to do that. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] We start with tissue culture plants. They'll be grown for their entire season. When they're ripe they'll be harvested. Dried. Once they're cured right they will come back to the lab for extraction. In which we will extract all of the valuable parts of the plant into a fine oil. Then that oil is used to create specific dilutions of a dietary supplement.

That they'll be called Charlotte's Web. [ MUSIC ] At nine months old she was sleeping 20 hours a day. Kids that age like to grab things. Swat at things. We would have things hanging over her she would have no interest. Finally at about her nine month appointment. After we were able to find a neurologist to see us relatively quickly. He was fairly confident that [ INAUDIBLE ] spasms. She was barely able to grow in function, because she was having upwards of 200 seizures a day. Seizures are incredibly debilitating but there's also a lot of other things that can happen with a cognitive problems. Depression, anxiety [ MUSIC ] Hello!

Hello! [ UNKNOWN ] Three times a day. [ UNKNOWN ] I see patients here two days a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and these are the consultation days, and also days where people come to pick up their medicine. In order to be ready for those two days, I spend. It's probably about another four days in lab making oil. Or with my brothers at the girl facilities. He was our first state licensee for the charlotte's web products. And it's fitting that he is a parents of a child with [ UNKNOWN ] syndrome. I am involved in this industry because of my daughter who is ten years old now and her name is Emily.

Who has intractable epilepsy. [ NOISE ] It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. At her worst times, she's had a hundred to a hundred and fifty seizures a day. We've been told by a couple of doctors that we have to go home and enjoy our daughter as much as we can cause there is really not much hope left or anything else that will help so I spent a lot of time in California trying to find this medicine and you know I didn't have a lot of luck .

>> We started doing our own research to see. What type of side effects? But why not try it. I just put my daughter on a medication that could've killed her. If it doesn't work, you put it to rest and we can move on with our lives. But if it does, nothing else has. Not everybody can come to Colorado, so there has to be something. Else we can do. My daughter was not doing good. She was having seizures, and I knew that there could be something that helps her, but I can't bring it to California, or I can't transport it. so it was very frustrating. It's okay. In the state where we live they do have a medical marijuana program.

However, even if you were able to get through all of the bureaucratic hoops they have set up, the appropriate product for our daughter is not available. [ MUSIC ] Here I am, desperate father. I have to help my daughter. I need to have this for my daughter. So what is it gonna take? One thing led to another. How're you guys doing? [ INAUDIBLE ] We're doing okay. I am now the director of the foundation's California chapter. And that was the only way to do this legally. [ MUSIC ] I wish. When Emily started having seizures, ten years ago, somebody in this position. Existed. Where somebody would sit down across from me and say, this is what failed for people.

This is what didn't. This is what others are doing. We were scared, one, to pick up and move and leave everything behind, but we weren't sure it was gonna work. Even in Colorado, the waiting list for Charlotte's Web oil is quite long, so it's not like you can just. Fly or drive to Colorado, pick it up and come home. Which apart from violating federal and state laws, It's just you can't do it. In California we found, an apartment, that we could do a short term rental. When we started giving her the marijuana in the first couple of doses even, we saw changes. She became more verbal. She became a lot more attentive.

She was a lot more awake than she had been. [ LAUGH ] After the summer we wanted to give a longer time for our trial. So we made a decision that we were going to. Bring a supply back with us. [ MUSIC ]. They were able to identify a supplier in California my understanding who had what appears to be a very good product of oil high in CBD and they didn't want to fly with it, so apparently drove cross country to get their child this medication. Well I never stopped thinking about the legal issues. As I cross into every state I tried to make sure to be very careful. Any time I was tired I took a break.

My daughter is doing great. She's now down to about 20 a day. She's far more interactive with the world around her. She has far more enjoyment. She's not playing beside the world, she's playing in the world where she lives now. And that, to me, is everything. Fortunately, that child is doing quite well. And they've gone through a huge pilgrimage to get that oil and, what appears to be, help their daughter. [ MUSIC ] I actually haven't heard anything about you know, negative potential side effects in the media. And I think it's a really important thing for parents to know is this is not risk free.

It's not something I told them to do but when they said they were determined to do it, I was supportive, as their physician, to say listen, I will be here to guide you on helping to adjust the therapy and monitor the other drugs and, and the girls' epilepsy. Overall, at least so far, our experience here at Children's Colorado has been that, that only about a third of families are really reporting that they see much of an improvement in their children. And of those children when we look at brain waves, none of those are we really seeing the kind of EEG change that we would expect from a really effective medication.

We also don't understand how marijuana products will interact with other medicines these children are on. Concerning things that we have seen in general, her seizures have gotten worse. Severe enough to require them to go into our intensive care unit. We absolutely don't have the scientific data and I think if I could make one point to the parents, it is that you need science. The other concern with the artisanal products is that we don't always know what's in them. They vary from batch to batch, they vary from grower to grower. [ MUSIC ] Unfortunately, we're giving it out to large numbers of very vulnerable people like children.

Without knowing what the correct dose it. Without knowing what kind of epilepsy it's going to work for. Most of my critics, especially in the medical field, are critics that are criticizing lack of research. I blame them. That's their job. You're a researcher. You're a scientist. You're a doctor. Why don't you research this? These procedures are gaining. Something stronger. The schedule one listing for marijuana has made it much more difficult to do research on marijuana, there is no question about that. Really all hemp products lie in a gray area. We are faced with a bit of a moral dilemma. We do have some legal area to operate here.

But at the same time, that's up for interpretation. [ MUSIC ] The supply is gonna run out, because we only brought back six months. There are options. Realm of Caring is talking about challenging the law and sending medication across state lines. Right, one more on the end and let's get it there. This product, this fall. Coming from hemp regulations, this will be our first time to actually be able to ship this to patients across the country. If it works, it would make a huge difference because then we could have it delivered right to our house. Cannabis [ UNKNOWN ] and that's what my product is.

The last. Drug enforcement agency position that I read stated that hemp products made for human consumption, which have any detectable THC in them, are technically a violation of federal law. Now, however, they go on to say that they realize that all of these products exist throughout grocery store shelves throughout America. At this point in time I don't feel like the legal landscape has us such that people are going to come in with guns and handcuffs and try and shut down something that is providing hope and options for people. We don't want to break the law. We don't want to do this, we have to do this.

How can kids not get what they need? I mean anyone you talk to about it, it's like, it's ridiculous. If it's helping kids, why isn't it. Reba like why can't you do it? [ MUSIC ] Everything has to start somewhere [ MUSIC ]

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