Medical marijuana – Addyson’s story

In a rented home in an upscale, middle class neighborhood in Castle Rock, Colorado, Heather Benton makes it clear that she’s proud that she and her daughter have become the faces of medical marijuana and Issue 3.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Heather said, as she settled in to the couch in her family room.

ResponsibleOhio ads, featuring Heather and 4 year old Addyson Benton have been playing around the clock for weeks across Ohio, yet here in the suburb of Denver, Heather can only get a sense from family and friends back home how big her voice has become.

The claim in the ad is clear: Medical Marijuana, which helps stop Addyson’s seizures, isn’t available in Ohio, so the family had to move to Colorado to get it.

Now, Heather readily admits she’s on a mission about the need to reform medical marijuana laws.

Seizures and sedation

Eight months ago, Addyson Benton, who has epilepsy, was battling hundreds of seizures day and night in a suburb of Cincinnati.

“It was bad,” Heather said, adding, “She was waking up every single night at least one time a day, sometimes from naps, with clusters of seizures, which would be one visible seizure every second for thirty minutes.”

YouTube video of Addyson, posted and shared by her family reveal of lethargic child back then, suffering from the debilitating seizures and sedated by the strong prescription medications.

“It was a nightmare,” Addyson’s father Adam said.

Excited, engaged and exuberant

During the television interview at the Benton home, Addyson was constantly on the go, blowing kisses, hugging the camera and constantly interrupting the questions from NBC4’s Duane Pohlman, even pushing and jumping on him.

She was excited, engaged and exuberant.

The difference, Heather confidently notes has been the family’s decision to move to Colorado so Addison can get medical marijuana.

The patches

”People actually think these children are going to be smoking marijuana,” Heather says, “No child is smoking marijuana.”

Instead, Addyson gets patches, with THC, the active drug at the center of marijuana, placed on her ankles.

Adam quietly and confidently takes the two patches, one with the active psychactive form of THC, the other with non- psychoactive THCA. He folds both in to even sections, until he finds the right dose for his daughter, then cuts.

“It’s all about dosage,” He says, as he looks down at the scissors.

Within seconds, he peels the patches and sticks them to Addyson’s ankles.

Addyson also gets a dose of THC oil once a day, rubbed on her gums.

A kid again

When asked whether it works, Heather doesn’t hesitate.

“She’s gone from Hundreds of visible seizures a day to under 5,” Heather says, adding, “She’s a kid again. It’s not like she’s running and falling and seizing all the time.”

While Addyson is doing much better, the Bentons make it clear they want to come back to Ohio. But they can only do that if they can legally get medical marijuana.

“It definitely is frustrating thinking that there are several other families faced with this and they’re still in Ohio and they don’t have the rights to the same medication as we do,: Heather said, noting, “It’s all based upon the state we live in.”

Source: http://nbc4i.com/

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Camp Hill mom cries for legalization of medical pot after son dies from PTSD

POSTED 10:30 PM, JUNE 23, 2015, BY REBECCA SOLOMON

CAMP HILL, Pa. -- A mother from Camp Hill, Cumberland County, is standing up for medical marijuana. Her son suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He eventually took his own life.

Donnamarie Feedman joined dozens of supporters of the drug at a rally in Harrisburg. The drug remains illegal in the Commonwealth.

At the rally, Corporal Barrett Thompson addressed the crowd by showing pictures of depressed army veterans. He said, "These pictures represent the hell I went through and veterans go through now."

Corporal Thompson returned from serving three tours in Iraq with PTSD and over 40 prescribed medications. Unlike Thompson, Donnamarie's son will never share his story.

She says, "At the height of his sickness, the VA had him on 21 pills per day. A lot of them were black box label pills and the only thing that helped him was smoking marijuana."

When Corporal Dane Freedman no longer had access to marijuana, he died.

Donnamarie says, "He tried, and that evening he ingested a lethal dose of alcohol and he shot himself in the heart."

Dr. Sue Sisley studies the impacts medical cannabis has on veterans who suffer from depression. She traveled from Arizona to relay a message to Pennsylvania Lawmakers.

Dr. Sisley says, "I'm hoping elected officials have the good sense to allow for compassionate access, it's time for commonsense to prevail in Pennsylvania."

Doctors say veterans won't get the attention they need until state lawmakers act. The bill remains in the State House Health Committee, but State Representative, Nick Miccarelli, of Delaware County, is hoping to change that through discharge resolution.

He says, "I put a memo out to my colleagues letting them know I'm going to be putting a district discharge resolution on Friday, asking for their support to get Senate Bill 3 out to the entire House floor for vote."

Under law, 25 members need to sign the discharge resolution before it can be considered by the full House chamber. We reached out to the Health Committee Chairman who opposes the bill. Representative Matthew Baker has told FOX 43 he believes the no.n-FDA approved drug will cause more harm.

Until the vote, mom's like Donnamarie will continue to rally.

"I will fight until my last breath to legalize marijuana for medical use as I saw first hand what it did and how it helped our Dane," says Donnamarie

Source: Watch the Video