Kentucky Will Approve Cannabis Oils for Medical, Clinical Use for Children With Epilepsy

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Just days after Utah approved their own cannabis-oil amendment, it appears Kentucky will follow suit. Yesterday, theKentucky House voted unanimously to allow the “medical use of a marijuana extract.”

That extract will, like in Utah, be a CBD-only extract (thus, not helping those in need of THC) and available to individuals with severe epilepsy. State Governor Steve Beshear will sign the bill into law, and soon enough, some (but not enough) of Kentucky’s suffering patients will gain much needed access.

On the heels of (another) Sanjay Gupta expose on marijuana as medicine, it appears states like Kentucky are checking themselves and seeing the light. As this story shows, when you literally see a child having seizure in front of your face–as one did yesterday–it has an undeniable, long-lasting impact.

The bill allows trials of marijuana oil in Kentucky, something parents of children who suffer severe, repeated seizures from epilepsy hope can provide relief where other drugs have failed. It is believed to be the first medical use of a marijuana derivative approved in Kentucky since the plant became illegal decades ago.

The stories of children — at least three of whom were on the House floor during the vote Wednesday — moved legislators to the landmark votes in both chambers, where the Senate voted 38-0 and the House voted 98-0 with two members, C.B. Embry, R-Morgantown, and Jim Gooch, D-Providence, not voting.

House members rose gave the families an ovation after the vote.

The child who had the seizures on the House floor was 3-year-old epilepsy patient Michaela Greene.

Her mother, Erin Greene of Harlan, said her daughter has had as many as 2,000 seizures in a week.

“This happens on a daily basis for us,” Greene said. The marijuana oil is “our last hope” other than a potentially fatal surgery. “This is, I’m hoping, I’m hoping, the cure for her.” [USA Today]

No, the CBD-curing-epilepsy dialogue is by no means a new dialogue–but it remains an important one. And in Kentucky, the stories and news was clearly novel, even for state legislators.

Thus, Kentucky becomes the latest, unlikely state to show reason, morality, and reform. Let’s just hope their Southern brethren follow suit sooner rather than later!