Utah Approves MMJ Access for Children with Severe Epilepsy

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Utah Governor Gary Herbert held a ceremony and signed a limited medical marijuana bill into effect at Utah’s state Capitol yesterday, as 50 parents and children suffering from severe epilepsy–and without any relief until now–cheered him on. The law will allow these families and their children to obtain marijuana extracts (like Charlotte’s Web), but will be very restrictive.

These families will only be able to get this medicine from medical marijuana states like Colorado, as production and sale still remain illegal in Utah. Taking this medicine over state lines still qualifies as a federal offense so the ruling presents a bittersweet scenario for these families.

The type of extract they’ll be able to obtain is a CBD-only one (as featured in the Sanjay Gupta CNN specials)–which, as we’ve noted, doesn’t always work for some patients. CBD-only legislation like this means that Utah patients in need of THC are still SOL (shit out of luck).

That said, it’s a nice progressive move, and should provide some aid to Utah’s suffering children:

By state law, they can legally get and give this medicine to their children, helping curb their seizures. But they still remain in a bizarre state of limbo:

The new law doesn’t allow medical marijuana production in Utah but allows families meeting certain restrictions to obtain the extract from other states.

Similar legislation is pending in at least one other state, and Utah advocates hope more will follow.

The marijuana extract, which some believe helps with a severe form of epilepsy, is produced in nearby Colorado and is designed not to produce a high.

But Colorado experts say restrictions passed in that state to appease the federal government make it a murky process for Utah families to actually get marijuana-derived products, particularly as all state medical marijuana laws are illegal under federal law.

Utah Rep. Gage Froerer, a Republican from Huntsville who sponsored the new state law, said families are willing to take that risk to treat their children with the oil.

“They know very well that this may not protect them from the DEA if the federal prosecutors stepped in,” Froerer told his colleagues earlier this month.

To gain support in conservative Utah, the push for the legislation focused on helping children suffering from a severe form of epilepsy and the law itself is tempered with restrictions.

The law takes effect on July 1 and expires in 2016. It’s restricted to those with severe epilepsy for whom the regular treatments are not effective, and requires a neurologist’s consent to obtain and use the extract. [ABC]

Again, these are baby steps. And if these families get caught driving from Colorado to Utah with this CBD, they put themselves at the mercy of the law.

Utah remains one of America’s more unfriendly weed states, as “possession of as little as an ounce or less of marijuana can result in a six-month jail sentence.” Which, for parents trying to save their children’s lives, is an abomination.

While it’s difficult to uproot your family and leave your life behind, the suggested action for families like these all over the country: move to Colorado or a MMJ-friendly state. Or take your chances.