Running Head: CBD, WILL IT BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL? 1

CBD, Will it be Helpful or Hurtful?

Jay Hundstad

GEN 123/ Grace Bible College

Professor Rhonda Keith

May 16, 2016

CBD, WILL IT BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL? 2

Let me ask you something. If you knew that your child was dying and there was nothing

physicians could do to help, how would you feel? Your child was going to die a slow, agonizing,

painful death; there was no doctor that could help. What would you be willing to do? Do you

think you could bring yourself to break the laws, which may end up with you going to prison?

Charlotte Figi’s family faced this situation. They desperately wanted to help their

daughter, because the physicians said that there was nothing else they could do for her.

Charlotte’s seizures would eventually kill her. They reached out to a cannabis producer in

Colorado for a radical solution.

A strain of low THC marijuana, which has since been named Charlotte’s Web, was used

to derive cannabinoid oil to use for treatment on Charlotte. The results have been more than

anyone could have expected. So, CBD, Will it be Helpful or Hurtful? I believe it will help

many people.

During an interview with CNN (Young, 2013), Matt and Paige Fiji of Colorado discussed

the progression of their daughter’s seizures. The Figis had twins born in 2006, Charlotte and

Chase. Within three months, Charlotte had her first seizure which lasted over 30 minutes. The

parents rushed her to the hospital and after all the testing was done, they had no answers as to the

cause of the seizures.

The seizures continued to worsen, sometimes lasting 2-4 hours each. The Figis took

Charlotte to doctors at Children’s Hospital in Denver; however, the doctors were unable to

provide a cause. The worst case scenario would be Dravet Syndrome. According to the CNN

article, “Dravet Syndrome is a rare, severe form of intractable epilepsy. Intractable means the

seizures are not controlled by medication. The first seizures with Dravet Syndrome usually start

before the age of 1.” (Young, 2013)

CBD, WILL IT BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL? 3

Dravet Syndrome is defined by National Organization of Rare Diseases, or NORD,

(2015) “Dravet syndrome spectrum disorders are rare genetic epileptic encephalopathies

(dysfunction of the brain) with onset during the first year of life in an otherwise healthy infant.

There is a spectrum of severity ranging from no clinical symptoms, to simple febrile seizures,

and extending to Dravet syndrome, which is the most severe.”

Charlotte’s physicians tried a specialized diet for her that limited carbohydrates that

helped control the seizures, but caused additional issues with her immune system. The seizures

came back within a short time. They tried a specialist in Chicago; there was no hope.

Charlotte’s father, Matt, had done research and found possible treatments, including

medical marijuana. However, in order for this option, the Figis needed to find two doctors who

would agree to prescribe this for their daughter. Medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado in

2000, but for treatment of seizures, the average age of the patient was 42. Charlotte was six.

Paige was against using any type of marijuana or a derivative for her daughter. Then, Charlotte’s

physicians told the parents that there was nothing else they could do. Medication was not

helping and eventually, the increasing seizures would kill her.

Desperate, Paige put aside her misgivings and they found doctors willing to try a low

tetra-hydro cannabinol, THC strain of marijuana. Because of her age, they determined that CBD

oil would be a better option. CBD oil can be extracted from either marijuana or hemp. In some

strains of marijuana, THC levels are lower and the CBD properties higher. The Stanley Brothers

had just such a strain of marijuana and had found no use for it at that time.

Charlotte’s seizures were steadily getting worse and her development stalled, when the

CBD oil was finally available for her to use. The results were a God-send. Charlotte’s seizures,

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which had been numbered in the 100s each week were all but stopped. The first treatment began

a reversal of Dravet Syndrome.

Charlotte was finally able to begin moving, talking and playing. For months, the only

sound her parents had heard her make was crying. The Figis declared the treatment a miracle.

Below, a photo showing Charlotte before the CBD oil and after treatment. It is difficult to

believe that the same child is shown.

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Researching the above story, I found another similar case, a child named Jayden David. Jason

David was desperately searching for a way to help his son. A video shows the intensity and pain of

the seizures at http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/10/health/medical-marijuana-child/. (Lah, 2012)

Before Jayden started on the CBD oil, he could not walk, eat solid food or take a bath.

He has Dravet's syndrome, too. Jayden took 22 anti-seizure pills a day to control the

seizures; however, the pills left him immobilized due to the side effects.

Jason said, "You can't help him no matter what. What are you supposed to do? You have

to do whatever it takes to save their life." (Lah, 2012)

Jason was exhausted by the ongoing suffering and pain endured by his son. He agreed to

try a low THC form of CBD oil made from medical marijuana. After the first usage, Jayden was

seizure free for the first time since he was an infant of four months old.

Jason obtained the CBD oil from Harborside Health Center in Oakland. Harborside no

longer supplies all of the CBD oil, they do still test it prior Jayden’s use. Harborside helps many

child patients with similar medical issues. Parents who make the decision to try CBD are usually

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at the last resort. "Parents don't want to bring their children to something controversial like

cannabis," says Harborside's executive director, Steven DeAngelo. (Lah, 2012) "They do it

reluctantly, and they do it because they're at their wit's end."

These children are not getting high. The oils used are low in THC, the substance that

causes euphoria or “high” in most marijuana. At this time, medical marijuana is legal in 18

states, with 16 states contemplating changes in their current laws.

Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level, no official testing has been done at this

time. The status is about to change. The University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, is

conducting a study of patients currently using Charlotte’s Web (CNN, 2015). Specifically, a

study of the genes in each person because not all users have the same results. Edward Maa, will

head the study on how and why medical marijuana can be used to treat epilepsy. “This is the first

attempt to get the information people are interested in that is observational in nature,” says Maa,

an assistant professor at the CU School of Medicine and chief of the Comprehensive Epilepsy

Programs at Denver Health.

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I believe that this study will help bring change to the opinion of the public and the Drug

Enforcement Agency, who currently have marijuana scheduled as a Class I drug. With this

classification, studies on the potential uses of CBD oil are severely limited. The DEA defines

Schedule I as follows:

“Schedule I

Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently

accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous

drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.

Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana

(cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote.”

I have read articles from the DEA and they state that marijuana is a gateway drug and at

the same time they are saying that marijuana is not a medication. I believe them classifying

marijuana as a drug is the same thing that pharmaceutical companies do in order to classify a pill

as medication, they call the pills drugs. Isn’t CBD oil a medication by that standard?

I believe that God gave us marijuana, which is where we get CBD oil. In Genesis 1:29-

30, it tells us that God gave us all the animals and plants of the earth for us as food. In reading

about Charlotte & Jayden, I found evidence that supports the use of CBD oil for treatment.

These kids and others now have a life with more promise than what they faced originally. I think

the best part of the whole story about the Figi family is how the company has named the plant

strain Charlotte’s Web.

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References

Drug Enforcement Agency, (nd) Retrieved on May 15, 2015 from

http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml

Lah, K. (2012) Retrieved on May 14, 2016 from

http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/10/health/medical-marijuana-child/

NORD, (2015) Retrieved on May 15, 2016 from http://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/dravet-

syndrome-spectrum/

Photo of Charlotte, (nd), Retrieved on May 15, 2016 from

http://www.haleyismyhero.com/virginiacannabisefforts.htm

Photo of Charlotte, (n,d,), http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/amyrose-lane/health-insurance-

medical-marijuana_b_8592586.html

Photo of Jayden, (n.d.) http://theleafonline.com/c/politics/2014/11/interview-cbd-expert-jason-

david-weed-wars/

Pickert, K. (2015), Retrieved on 5/16/2016 from http://time.com/3264691/medical-marijauna-

epilepsy-research-charlottes-web-study/

Young, S. (2013) Retrieved on May 7, 2016 from

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana

Thesis Statement: CBD, will it be helpful or hurtful? I believe it will be a blessing.

CBD, WILL IT BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL? 9

I. Introduction

A. Thesis StatementB. Propose a dilemma

1. Sick child2. No help available3. Other Options

II. Body

A. Charlotte’s story1. Overview

a. History of illnessb. Doctor’s give upc. Radical options

2. Photos before/afterB. Jaden’s Story

1. Overview2. Radical options3. Photo after

C. Legal issues1. What is CBD?

a. Where does it come from?b. What does it do?c. Where does THC come into it?

2. States availablea. Current standing on CBD oilb. How derived

i. Sources ii. THC levels

iii. CBD levelsc. Category of CBD oil

iv. Hemp vs. Marijuana

3. DEA opiniona. Gateway drugb. Not medicine

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III. ConclusionA. RecapB. State opinion

IV. References