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04-05-2016, 02:50 PM
An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:
Still in the dark concerning the medical benefits of cannabis (also known as ganja), well, here's a story of how its helped a little tot regain his life. After "orthodox" treatment with regular prescriptions and treatments showed to be a waste of money, (and time), pot helped.
It is time society removes the tarnished image of marijuana as an evil-drug and start viewing it for what it really is, a harmless, natural herb that has more uses than harm (none in fact, other than the law governing it). Even its non-medical use, as a recreational drug has benefits - it helps blokes relax, and its darn economical. Just two to three hits and your're all set to kick-back, get stoned, and watch TV all evening, instead of going out spending money at the pub, and endanger your life trying to find your way home after the evening of dwinking! Your senses become more profound and you start to appreciate sounds and sights more vividly. Comedy becomes funnier, music and movies becomes more enthralling. Food tastes better!! Yes, you get the munchies, and start to eat more - gotta watch it though, don't overdo it! Toke on!!!
Cheers!
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ht-a-life-back (http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-how-medical-cannabis-gave-little-liam-age-eight-a-life-back)
EGAN: How medical cannabis gave little Liam, age eight, a life back
Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
More from Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 3, 2016 | Last Updated: May 3, 2016 9:11 PM EDT
Monday we brought you the story of a desperate mother who, after all else failed, began treating her daughter’s chronic respiratory condition with cannabis oil.
She was rewarded with a police investigation and a heart-stopping intervention from child welfare authorities that forced the end of the experiment.
Today, a story that worked out differently. Mandy McKnight gives her son Liam cannabis every day. He’s only eight. Without it, she’s not sure he’d even be alive today.
“It was really life-changing. No question.”
Liam, the youngest of three, suffers from Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that left him coping with as many as 70 seizures a day and in a near-catatonic state from powerful medications. “Before we started cannabis, he hadn’t had a seizure-free day in two years.”
Within days of trying cannabis oil in 2013, the number of seizures dramatically decreased and his overall health began to improve. He is now stable and back to school.
McKnight, a Constance Bay resident, has gone public with the family’s story and regularly tries to help parents trying to navigate the uncharted territory of cannabis treatment for children.
“One of the toughest things right now is access,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “It is so hard to find a medical doctor who will prescribe for pediatric patients.”
Indeed, the McKnights — despite a lengthy relationship with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario — had to fly to Edmonton to meet a physician who would help Liam get his own medical cannabis licence, at age five.
“When we asked about (cannabis oil) at CHEO, we couldn’t even get the words out of our mouth. It was just, ‘No. We do not believe in that here,'” though this attitude seems to be changing.
Once Liam had his licence, the McKnights were able to find a legal supplier, but the regulations were so rigid that the boy was initially required to smoke or vaporize the cannabis, which was impossible.
Instead, they used the dry cannabis to make oil, which Liam would eat in paste form (mixed with coconut oil). However, to monitor the dosage, a sample from each batch would be sent to a lab in B.C. (The correct dosage depends on the right balance of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana and so-called CBD, or cannabidiol, the medicinal portion.)
McKnight estimates the family was spending about $1,300 a month on cannabis and another $125 a month on lab testing. These costs, she added, are prohibitive for many families, but consider this:
One of Liam’s conventional medicines was costing $1,500 a month and he was still so ill that he was frequently in hospital, and several times had to be taken by ambulance or airlifted to CHEO. And now, she has to fight with her drug plan for coverage of the cannabis, the only drug he takes?
She’s also frustrated that she still can’t buy the cannabis in oil form from the family supplier, despite a Supreme Court of Canada ruling to that effect in June 2015. So she’s stuck making it, which takes at least 12 hours in a crockpot and never comes out exactly the same.
In February, the Canadian Paediatric Society put out a position paper on the use of cannabis. It was full of red flags and warned about the adverse affects on childhood brain development. However, it did acknowledge there is evidence the drug is effective for some epileptic patients.
“I felt threatened,” McKnight said, of reading the document. “I kinda felt like they’re not going to help any of our kids now.”
It’s all well and good to talk about the need for double-blind trials and placebo effects, she said, but how does that help a child in the throes of a seizure today?
“Our kids don’t have time. How long do you wait before you act?”
About 90,000 people in Ontario have epilepsy and, of those, 30,000 are so-called drug resistant. Epilepsy Ontario is regularly contacted by parents looking for information about cannabis treatment for children. There is, evidently, lots of scrambling for legal access.
“Oh absolutely, it is happening in the shadows,” responded Suzanne Nurse, a director with the organization, when asked about parental attempts through the evolving cannabis landscape. Meanwhile, clinical trials are proceeding and the early results, some published in Lancet, are promising,
The McKnight family had tried about 10 conventional medications and a special high-fat diet, but they just weren’t working.
“The future (effects are) unknown. I want him to have a life today.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email [email protected]
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?229126-Cannabis-benefits&goto=newpost).
Still in the dark concerning the medical benefits of cannabis (also known as ganja), well, here's a story of how its helped a little tot regain his life. After "orthodox" treatment with regular prescriptions and treatments showed to be a waste of money, (and time), pot helped.
It is time society removes the tarnished image of marijuana as an evil-drug and start viewing it for what it really is, a harmless, natural herb that has more uses than harm (none in fact, other than the law governing it). Even its non-medical use, as a recreational drug has benefits - it helps blokes relax, and its darn economical. Just two to three hits and your're all set to kick-back, get stoned, and watch TV all evening, instead of going out spending money at the pub, and endanger your life trying to find your way home after the evening of dwinking! Your senses become more profound and you start to appreciate sounds and sights more vividly. Comedy becomes funnier, music and movies becomes more enthralling. Food tastes better!! Yes, you get the munchies, and start to eat more - gotta watch it though, don't overdo it! Toke on!!!
Cheers!
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-...ht-a-life-back (http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-how-medical-cannabis-gave-little-liam-age-eight-a-life-back)
EGAN: How medical cannabis gave little Liam, age eight, a life back
Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
More from Kelly Egan, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: May 3, 2016 | Last Updated: May 3, 2016 9:11 PM EDT
Monday we brought you the story of a desperate mother who, after all else failed, began treating her daughter’s chronic respiratory condition with cannabis oil.
She was rewarded with a police investigation and a heart-stopping intervention from child welfare authorities that forced the end of the experiment.
Today, a story that worked out differently. Mandy McKnight gives her son Liam cannabis every day. He’s only eight. Without it, she’s not sure he’d even be alive today.
“It was really life-changing. No question.”
Liam, the youngest of three, suffers from Dravet syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that left him coping with as many as 70 seizures a day and in a near-catatonic state from powerful medications. “Before we started cannabis, he hadn’t had a seizure-free day in two years.”
Within days of trying cannabis oil in 2013, the number of seizures dramatically decreased and his overall health began to improve. He is now stable and back to school.
McKnight, a Constance Bay resident, has gone public with the family’s story and regularly tries to help parents trying to navigate the uncharted territory of cannabis treatment for children.
“One of the toughest things right now is access,” she said in an interview Tuesday. “It is so hard to find a medical doctor who will prescribe for pediatric patients.”
Indeed, the McKnights — despite a lengthy relationship with the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario — had to fly to Edmonton to meet a physician who would help Liam get his own medical cannabis licence, at age five.
“When we asked about (cannabis oil) at CHEO, we couldn’t even get the words out of our mouth. It was just, ‘No. We do not believe in that here,'” though this attitude seems to be changing.
Once Liam had his licence, the McKnights were able to find a legal supplier, but the regulations were so rigid that the boy was initially required to smoke or vaporize the cannabis, which was impossible.
Instead, they used the dry cannabis to make oil, which Liam would eat in paste form (mixed with coconut oil). However, to monitor the dosage, a sample from each batch would be sent to a lab in B.C. (The correct dosage depends on the right balance of THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana and so-called CBD, or cannabidiol, the medicinal portion.)
McKnight estimates the family was spending about $1,300 a month on cannabis and another $125 a month on lab testing. These costs, she added, are prohibitive for many families, but consider this:
One of Liam’s conventional medicines was costing $1,500 a month and he was still so ill that he was frequently in hospital, and several times had to be taken by ambulance or airlifted to CHEO. And now, she has to fight with her drug plan for coverage of the cannabis, the only drug he takes?
She’s also frustrated that she still can’t buy the cannabis in oil form from the family supplier, despite a Supreme Court of Canada ruling to that effect in June 2015. So she’s stuck making it, which takes at least 12 hours in a crockpot and never comes out exactly the same.
In February, the Canadian Paediatric Society put out a position paper on the use of cannabis. It was full of red flags and warned about the adverse affects on childhood brain development. However, it did acknowledge there is evidence the drug is effective for some epileptic patients.
“I felt threatened,” McKnight said, of reading the document. “I kinda felt like they’re not going to help any of our kids now.”
It’s all well and good to talk about the need for double-blind trials and placebo effects, she said, but how does that help a child in the throes of a seizure today?
“Our kids don’t have time. How long do you wait before you act?”
About 90,000 people in Ontario have epilepsy and, of those, 30,000 are so-called drug resistant. Epilepsy Ontario is regularly contacted by parents looking for information about cannabis treatment for children. There is, evidently, lots of scrambling for legal access.
“Oh absolutely, it is happening in the shadows,” responded Suzanne Nurse, a director with the organization, when asked about parental attempts through the evolving cannabis landscape. Meanwhile, clinical trials are proceeding and the early results, some published in Lancet, are promising,
The McKnight family had tried about 10 conventional medications and a special high-fat diet, but they just weren’t working.
“The future (effects are) unknown. I want him to have a life today.”
To contact Kelly Egan, please call 613-726-5896 or email [email protected]
Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com (http://www.singsupplies.com/showthread.php?229126-Cannabis-benefits&goto=newpost).