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Title: Minnesota mom who gave cannabis oil to son will not face trial - drug warriors furious
Source:
St. Paul Pioneer Press
URL Source: http://www.twincities.com/localnews ... a-brown-madison-has-signed-off
Published: Apr 17, 2015
Author: Tom Cherveny
Post Date: 2015-04-20 21:21:27 by Deckard
Keywords: None
Views: 39409
Comments: 118
Angela Brown of Madison, Minn., has signed off on an agreement that will lead to the dismissal of a child endangerment charge against her for giving her 15-year-old son cannabis oil to treat his seizures and pain from a traumatic brain injury. Brown said her attorney, Michael Hughes of Bend, Ore., informed her a week ago that he and Lac qui Parle County Attorney Rick Stulz worked out an agreement that will allow for a "continuance for dismissal'' of the child endangerment charge. If she pays a $100 court fee and has no violations for 90 days, the gross misdemeanor charge will be dropped. Brown said she signed the agreement Thursday and expected it to be entered in court by the Lac qui Parle County attorney. Brown had been set to stand trial on the charge Wednesday. "I was shell-shocked and actually upset; he's getting exactly what he wants,'' said Brown of her initial reaction when asked by her attorney if she would OK the agreement. Brown learned of the agreement while in the Twin Cities on April 10 for the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Film Festival and the debut showing of "Pot (The Movie),'' which documents the fight for medical marijuana, and in which she appears. By approving the agreement, Brown said she spares her son Trey the trauma of having to testify in the trial. The prosecution intended to subpoena Trey, according to Brown. She said it would have been traumatic for her son to have to testify. She said her attorney filed statements from her son's medical provider warning of the harm it could cause him. Brown was charged in June with child endangerment after surrendering a small amount of cannabis oil to law enforcement. The family had traveled to Colorado to obtain the oil to treat Trey. He suffered the traumatic brain injury when he was struck by a baseball at age 11. Brown and her husband, David, believe their son would be eligible to receive the cannabis oil when use of medical cannabis for some medical conditions becomes legal in Minnesota on July 1. The legal fight has been a financial blow to the family, and the ordeal very stressful for the parents and their three children, Brown said. They have been fearful that she would be taken away and put in prison. She and her husband have a gofundme.com fundraising site to accept funds for their medical and other costs, and now the costs to move to a new home. Brown said they have decided to move to Colorado where David has accepted a position with his former employer, the Corrections Corporation of America. The ordeal has put Angela Brown into the limelight as a spokeswoman for those calling for laws to allow for the use of medical cannabis. While it has been difficult for her family, she believes the ordeal has served some good in that she has been able to call attention to the issue. She remains committed to it. "I'm going to continue to fight. It's not done,'' she said. 
Angela Brown, left, visits with supporters, including Patrick McClellan, outside the Chippewa County Courthouse in Montevideo, Minn., in September. McClellan, of Minnesotans for Compassionate Care, testified at the Legislature for the bill that will allow the use of medical cannabis. He made the trip from Bloomington to show support for Brown. Forum News Service: Tom Cherveny
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#1. To: A K A Stone, Deckard (#0)
The correct title of the article in the link is: Please don't editorialize in titles. The “Title Block” is reserved for factual reporting. Learn to use the “Poster Comments” section provided in the format to inject your personal interpretation or private opinion into an otherwise factual account.
You're furious that the kid is getting medicine and not suffering?
Why should I be furious? That Angela Brown “self-medicates” her son with a marijuana strain rich in cannabidiol (CBD) that “can increase the risk of serious psychiatric disorders and long-term cognitive problems” is her personal problem and one her conscious has to deal with under the laws in her state. If she feels she is capable of prescribing medication for her son, then she probably also feels she can handle any “harmful effects from these CBD-rich marijuana extracts” that takes hold on her son. It is up to her to totally disregard the messages from the “scientists and physicians who have been quick to warn of the dangers of the marijuana extract because CBD use in people with epilepsy has yet to be clinically evaluated.” If she wants to say “screw you” to the “FDA for having classified the cannabidiol” she is giving her son as “a Schedule 1 drug, the strictest level of regulation for a controlled substance”….then she can say, “screw you FDA.” Why should I be furious? The first-of-a-kind drug being developed from marijuana plants specifically to treat early childhood epilepsy is epidiolex….derived from cannabidiol. The FDA approved a series of clinical trials to test Epidiolex’s efficacy to treat epilepsy. “The research revealed that more than 50 percent of the 137 epileptic children and young adults continually treated with Epidiolex over a period of three months saw a reduction in their seizures.” Furthermore, there is no evidence presented anywhere that cannabidiol cures the causes of seizures, prevents reoccurrence of seizures, or alleviates all pain and suffering resulting from seizures. Tell me, “Doctor Hondo”….how you know her son is “not suffering.”
CBD use in people with epilepsy has yet to be clinically evaluated They don't want your ObamaCare prescription! How much stock do you own in this ObamaCare Epidiolex? It's an herb that's been under evaluation for thousands of years. Big Pharma and the FDA ignore the research because they don't hold a patent on this natural God given product.
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover ~ Mark 16:18 King James 2000 Bible Your ignorance knows know bounds. Typical ploy of the semi-literate, take two completely unrelated subjects and pretend they are the same.
Right back at you with that. You sarcastically stated: I documented cases where patents deciding to best treat their children were definitely "BAD" ... in fact they killed them. Now respond without your poor attempt at DEFLECTION!
How about just one case where the government acted (supposedly) in the "best interests" of children. Mt. Carmel, Waco Texas.
You CANNOT properly address the point....you can only continue to copy and paste for DEFLECTION. That's pathetic...
I did address the point, Reno apologist.
Like Hell you did, Alex's Ass Kisser.
Don't try and pretend that you have any concern for children
Stop assuming you know the proper medication for seizures. --- Gatlin We'll have to leave that pretension to 'Major' gatlin...
"Major" Gatty is the only one who believes that lie.
Parents May Overestimate Marijuana's Effects on Kids' Seizures by Laura Geggel, Staff Writer | December 08, 2014 03:42pm ET In a recent trend, parents of children with some forms of epilepsy are giving marijuana to their children in hopes of alleviating the seizures, but researchers say cannabis is not a proven treatment for childhood epilepsy, and people should wait for rigorous studies to decide whether the drug is safe or effective. In fact, parents with high expectations may overestimate the effects of marijuana on children with epilepsy, said the researchers, who presented their data today (Dec. 8) at the meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in Seattle. In one study, the researchers surveyed parents in Colorado whose children had epilepsy and were treated with marijuana. Parents who had moved to the state because it is legal there to use pot recreationally were three times more likely to report that cannabis helped their children, compared with families who already lived in the state. [11 Surprising Facts About Placebos] I can imagine these poor families, who are just desperate for anything to work," said the study's senior researcher, Dr. Kevin Chapman, an associate professor of neurology at the University of Colorado. However, it's concerning that the researchers found "that the biggest predictor of whether you respond was whether you actually moved from out of state." Cannabis contains a number of chemicals that are thought to exert effects on the body and mind, said Dr. Shaun Hussain, the director of the University of California, Los Angeles Infantile Spasms Program. The two big players are the compounds tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). THC is associated with the high that comes with taking cannabis, and has also been shown to reduce nausea and increase hunger, Hussain said. "It has traditionally been thought that CBD didn't do a whole lot, but attention has focused on CBD as the chemical that may reduce seizures," Hussain said. But research has yet to determine CBD's usefulness. "From a physician standpoint, it's kind of daunting because we don't know anything about it," Chapman said. "We don't know about side effects, we don't know about drug interactions, we don't know whether it works or not." Parent surveys Some evidence is beginning to come in from surveys of families who have given the drug to their children. In one study, Chapman and his colleagues looked at 58 children, average age of 7, who received marijuana for their epilepsy. The parents of 18 of the 58 children reported that the number of seizures their kids suffered was reduced by half while they were taking the drug — suggesting that about 30 percent of the kids benefited. In addition, 29 percent reported their children showed improved alertness and improved behavior. But the researchers had brain wave readings called electroencephalograms (EEGs) for 16 of the 58 kids in the study that were taken before and during treatment with marijuana. They found that just two kids showed signs of improvement, the researchers said. This translates to 12.5 percent of these kids seeing a benefit. And meanwhile, negative side effects occurred in 47 percent of all the children in the study, with 21 percent of them having more seizures than before, 14 percent having sleepiness or fatigue, and 10 percent having more severe effects, including one child who needed intubation to help breathing, and another who died, although the researchers felt the death was unrelated to the cannabis. One potential problem with the study is that some doctors took children off other medications they were taking when the children started taking cannabis extracts, which may have altered the chemistry within their bodies, Chapman noted. Also, cannabis may affect the concentration levels of other drugs the children are taking, which can also change how they respond to their epilepsy, the doctors said. Marijuana from dispensaries may also have varying concentrations of its chemicals, and parents may be unsure of what dose to give their children, the researchers added. [11 Odd Facts About Marijuana] The findings highlight the need for controlled studies, Chapman said. "By doing more placebo-controlled trials, I think we're going to get a better feel for whether it's beneficial for epilepsy," he said. Another parent survey, by Hussain and his colleagues, also found the need for rigorous trials. That survey was given online to 53 parents of children who have infantile spasms or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, who had taken marijuana extracts containing CBD. The researchers found that 92 percent of parents said their children had fewer seizures after taking CBD, and 13 percent said their child was seizure-free. The kids had tried eight medications, on average, and had not been helped. The parents also said the drug helped their children sleep, and increased alertness and mood. But these results should be taken with a grain of salt, Hussain said. "This is generally a pretty desperate group of patients and parents, and I think they are highly invested in the belief and the hope that these cannabis extracts are truly effective," he said. Several clinical trials on cannabis' effects on childhood epilepsy are slated to begin in early 2015, Hussain said. Doose Syndrome The third study is a case report of a family who began giving CBD to their 4-year-old boy with Doose Syndrome, a type of epilepsy that causes classic shaking as well as jerking muscles during seizures. The boy had at least 10 seizures a day, said Dr. Jeffrey Gold, an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of California, San Diego, and a neurologist at Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego. When the boy started CBD, his seizures initially got worse. But it turned out the CBD was increasing the child's blood levels of valproic acid, another anti-seizure medication he was taking. Doctors immediately reduced the child's valproic acid medication, and he continued to take CBD. Within four months, the boy's seizures disappeared, which was confirmed with EEGs. "We don't know why that happened," Gold said. "Maybe it was the valproic acid. Maybe it was the cannabinoid." Doctors still can't recommend CBD as a treatment for children with epilepsy, but Gold encouraged families to be upfront with their doctors if they choose that route. The drug may interfere with the child's other medications, and informed doctors can monitor the child's response, he said. Future work will help doctors determine whether cannabis is a useful drug, experts said. "We lack safety data in children, and there should be carefully done safety and efficacy studies on any drug given to children," said Dr. Orrin Devinsky, the director of the New York University Epilepsy Center, who was not involved with any of the studies. "We desperately need this data." He continued, "There is a naturalistic fallacy in which people believe that natural things are safe. There are many poisons in plants as well as animals. Some are very natural and very lethal. These studies are a call for more carefully designed studies. http://www.livescience.com/49048-cannabis-marijuana-epilepsy.html.
As more states move to legalize cannabidiol, early research shows the substance failed to help some patients and even worsened others By ARIAN CAMPO-FLORES - March 23, 2015 6:06 p.m. ET Studies are under way to test the effectiveness of a marijuana extract that has been hailed as a wonder drug by some parents whose children suffer severe forms of epilepsy. But as initial findings from several researchers trickle in, the results are proving mixed. A dozen states in the past year, including Florida and Kentucky, have legalized the substance—cannabidiol, or CBD—despite a lack of hard evidence of its effectiveness in controlling seizures. Another nine states are weighing CBD legislation. Some of the bills have been named after children in those states with severe epilepsy and whose families were desperate for an alternative after trying other medications that failed. The early research results show that while some children appeared to improve after taking CBD, others didn’t respond, or even worsened. Doctors say the findings underscore the need for more research on the extract.
These parents don't even know what they're giving their children. They don't know because their drug dealer doesn't know. There's no "quality control", no consistency between batches, no screening for contaminants, no idea of drug interactions with other medicines the child may be taking, no clue about side effects. How much CBD is in that oil? What is the proper dosage? How many times per day? What other cannabinoids are in that oil? Will those cannabinoids actually make the problem worse? Her son's doctor advised against it. Not gonna stop her. She a vocal advocate for marijuana as medicine. How would that look?
There are a small number of quality growers for the Charlotte blend. There are other unscrupulous types who are selling whatever they whip up as a blend, often the main Charlotte blend mixed with other active-THC material. So there are some scammers out there trying to get in on the cannabis oil market and parents need to check carefully who is supplying them and their reputation.
Do these "quality growers" know what they're selling? What's the amount of CBD in each drop of oil? How many drops per dosage? How many times per day? Any other cannabinoids in their product? Here's an example of how it's done correctly: "SATIVEX® is provided as a buccal spray in a 5.5 ml vial, with each 100 microlitre spray providing 2.7 mg delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 2.5 mg cannabidiol (CBD)." "Patients should be advised that it might take a week or more to find the optimal dosing level. The median daily dosage of SATIVEX® in the extension phase of the 4-week clinical trial was 5 sprays per day."
#79. To: Deckard, misterwhite (#76)
After reading Deckard’s posts and all I got was…
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestTitle: Minnesota mom who gave cannabis oil to son will not face trial - drug warriors furious
Deal spares trial for Minnesota mom who gave cannabis oil to son
#2. To: Gatlin, furious drug warrior, hall monitor, narc (#1)
- drug warriors furious
#19. To: Hondo68, misterwhite, Deckard, Promoters of Fraudulent or Ignorant Medical Practices (#2)
You're furious that the kid is getting medicine…?
… and not suffering?
“Research suggests medical marijuana could reduce seizures in children”….nowhere has any evidence whatsoever been presented that cannabidiol “prevents” seizures in children.
#23. To: Gatlin, drug pusher, ObongoCare, Epidiolex (#19)
Epidiolex
#30. To: hondo68, Snake Oil Merchant (#23)
It's an herb that's been under evaluation for thousands of years. Big Pharma and the FDA ignore the research because they don't hold a patent on this natural God given product.
Here is a method of healing that has been around for just long. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover ~ Mark 16:18 King James 2000 Bible
I don’t see too many people grabbing hold of a diamondback and laying hands on someone to heal. Oh yea, I know there‘s a Pentecostal Church in Kentucky where they do this. But wait! Jamie Coots, the “snake handling" pastor died after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a weekend church service. Oh well, so much for that healing method. We are still waiting to see the long term results of CBD….aren’t we?
#32. To: Gatlin, hondo68 (#30)
Here is a method of healing that has been around for just long.
#38. To: Deckard, hondo68 (#32)
Typical ploy of the semi-literate,
"Parents deciding how to best treat their children - BAD."
#40. To: Gatlin (#38)
I documented cases where patents deciding to best treat their children were definitely "BAD" ... in fact they killed them.
#42. To: Deckard (#40)
#43. To: Gatlin (#42)
You CANNOT properly address the point
#44. To: Deckard (#43)
#46. To: Gatlin (#44)
#49. To: Deckard (#46)
---- Don't try and pretend that you have any concern for children
#50. To: tpaine (#49)
We'll have to leave that pretension to 'Major' gatlin...
#51. To: Deckard, hondo68, Fred Mertz, misterwhite, TooConservative (#50)
Brown said they have decided to move to Colorado ...
#63. To: Deckard, hondo68, misterwhite, TooConservative (#51)
(Edited)
#64. To: Gatlin (#63)
#68. To: misterwhite (#64)
There's no "quality control", no consistency between batches, no screening for contaminants, no idea of drug interactions with other medicines the child may be taking, no clue about side effects.
#75. To: TooConservative (#68)
"There are a small number of quality growers for the Charlotte blend."
#76. To: misterwhite (#75)
"SATIVEX® is provided as a buccal spray in a 5.5 ml vial, with each 100 microlitre spray providing 2.7 mg delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and 2.5 mg cannabidiol (CBD)."
Replies to Comment # 76. 
…to use what is shown on this T-shirt!
End Trace Mode for Comment # 76.
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