The War on Plants Forces Young Texas Girl Out of State to Seek Epilepsy Treatment

The Federal Government, all the way down to your local municipality have been waging ‘war’ on a medicinal herb known as cannabis for the greater part of a century. As if the prohibition of alcohol didn’t provide enough empirical evidence that banning substances in high demand just push markets underground, politicians decided to double down on the insanity by banning marijuana. Starting with the federal Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 to the present day war on drugs, American governments have been at war with its own people, and they have the record incarceration rates to prove it. However, by making it illegal to possess any form of marijuana, governments are doing more than just initiating violence against peaceful cannabis smokers, they are preventing the sick from receiving potentially life saving treatments, namely cannabidiol (CBD) oil.

On Sunday’s edition of WFAA’s Inside Politics, 9 year old Alexis Bortell and father Dean announced that they will be moving to Colorado to seek cannabis oil treatment for Alexis’s severe epilepsy seizures. Unlike Texas, Colorado has legalized marijuana in all forms, relinquishing the recreational and medicinal freedoms back to its citizens. The Bortell family’s original plan was to stay in Texas to lobby the legislature for medical cannabis in hopes they could legalize cannabis oil and seek treatment in their home state. However, that plan changed on the night of February 4th, 2015 when Alexis experienced the worst seizure of her life, causing her to lose consciousness and even stopped breathing momentarily. After a trip to the emergency room, she returned home and suffered from stroke like symptoms for the week following the event. Dean explained that his daughters life is in danger and she can no longer wait for politicians to make their preferred treatment option legal. So, Alexis will be forced to leave her home, her friends, and her school, to seek treatment in Colorado with her mother, while Dean is staying home in Texas to continue pleading with politicians to legalize cannabis oil based medications in Texas.

Stephanie Klick, State Rep (R-Ft. Worth) and Registered Nurse, who was also present on the program, recently filed legislation that would regulate the growth and dispensation of CBD oil, an oil extracted from the cannabis plant. As filed, these bills require this oil to not contain more than 0.5 percent tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) and not less than 10 percent CBD by weight. This level of THC, the psychoactive component of the cannabis plant, is not sufficient to get the consumer ‘high,’ even in large doses. Klick mentioned that there is a fair amount of support in the house for helping out Texan families with children who suffer from epilepsy, however,

“some folks are concerned with what has happened in Colorado and they want a more measured program in Texas”.

What exactly has happened in Colorado to cause concern, other than the drastic decrease in marijuana related possession charges, an extra $40 million in tax revenue, being ranked as the number one fastest growing economy by Business Insider, and the lowest unemployment rate since 2008? I guess all that positive feedback in Colorado is concerning to the lawmakers in Texas. All that aside, Dean cautions the audience and Klick against demonizing THC as he claims it has been successfully used to treat seizures after they have occurred as a rescue medication. He also makes the point that government doesn’t control the dosage of any other controlled drugs and marijuana should be no different,

Leave the medical decisions with the doctors

It is currently unknown how much traction this particular medical marijuana bill will garner, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. If nothing else, it forces law makers to admit that it’s no longer 1937, and science tends to outweigh any emotional or religious reason for keeping the war on plants alive. However, one thing is clear. Alexis will be uprooting her life to move to a state with more freedoms, to potentially save her life with cannabis oil.

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Watch Alexis on WFAA Inside Politics

