Idaho's Children Don't Have Time to Wait

I am a child of Idaho.

I was adopted by an Idaho family when I was only a few months old and have lived in Idaho pretty much my entire life. 

I grew up in West Boise, near Centennial High School. I learned to ski at Bogus Basin, swim at Lucky Peak, and shoot guns up near Horseshoe Bend Hill. I remember when Boise was a small city; Eagle Rd. was two lanes; and when Kuna, Star & Middleton were tiny towns, far away. There used to be nothing but farms between Meridian and Nampa! 

I remember Squeaky Cheese from the Cheese factory; attending the Boise River Festival every June to watch the Duck Races and River Parades; and trying to "Save the Cross" at Table Rock. 

As a teenager, I participated in Boise's "Cruise" every weekend with my friends, attended bonfires in the Kuna Desert, and have been down pretty much every dirt road in the Valley.

I love Idaho. I love the mountains, the lakes, the rivers, the trees, the skies. I cherish the numerous cultures found within our borders, and the diversity of our ecosystems. Idaho is my home. It is where my family lives, it is where my heart belongs. 

My mother is buried in Dry Creek Cemetery on Hill Rd, overlooking Idaho's fallen soldiers in the new Veterans Cemetery, and I plan to be laid to rest in Idaho's soil with her when it's my time to go.

I have lived in several locations over the last fear years, but my heart has always longed to be home in the Rocky's. But now that I'm home, my heart yearns to leave again. 

Not because I don't want to be here, or because I don't want it to be my home, but because my daughter, Lilly, is gone. She is off on a journey with her father in Southern California to get safe access to Medical Marijuana to treat her MRSA.

All because Idaho won't legalize Medical Marijuana.

However, when Governor Otter vetoed the CBD affirmative defense bill, he was kind enough to implement a clinical trials program through a pharmaceutical company called GW Pharmaceuticals. (Both the Bill and Otter's program are a giant leap forward from the previous resolution of never legalizing Marijuana in Idaho, for any reason, ever, not even medical.)

GW Pharma is from the UK and is responsible for Cannabis based pharmaceutical medications, such as Sativex, which is used to treat Multiple Sclerosis and Cancer pain.

Now, in just a few weeks, 25 of Idaho's Children will receive an experimental medication called Epidiolex. According to the GW Pharma website, the FDA has approved clinical trials of Epidiolex for up to 225 children in 4 different states, including Idaho. 

As the Idaho State Journal reports, there are thousands of children in Idaho who will qualify for the trial, but only 25 will receive Epidiolex in the study.
When the story first aired here in Idaho, I was contacted by numerous facebook friends and followers who suggested that I point out that my Lilly would be #26 if they would just increase that number. 

But I cannot do that, because it isn't true. 

The GW Pharma study will determine whether Epidiolex is effective in treating seizures brought on by Dravet's Syndrome (as seen in Dr. Gupta's documentaries - WEED.) 

Only children with seizures will qualify and, thankfully, my Lilly doesn't suffer from seizures.

I can only imagine the horrors faced daily by the parents of children suffering from those conditions, and I am eternally grateful that our Lilly is healthy in that way. 

My heart goes out to these parents, and of course, conditions that cause horrific symptoms as devastating as seizures caused by Dravet's, should be a priority in treatment. 

Lilly during a MRSA outbreak

But my Lilly does suffer. MRSA outbreaks are painful, and during the outbreaks Lilly is irritable, feverish, and tells us constantly that she just feels Ucky. 

The long term effects of MRSA are potentially fatal, especially if it were to get into her blood or her organs, such as her lungs. 

And if that were to occur, we wouldn't know until her body showed external signs of the infection, such as fever, rash, and shortness of breath. We are terrified any time she contracts a cold or even has allergies, because the symptoms are so similar. 

The "What If's" can be overwhelming at times, and the anxiety while checking every little blemish on her body for a MRSA outbreak is astounding.

Not to forget that the antibiotic and antibacterial properties that help fight MRSA are not soley found in the Cannabidiol (CBD) compound. 

Other compounds found in Cannabis, including Cannabichromene (CBC), cannabigerol (CBG), and compounds called terpenoids, like α-terpineol, borenol, and β-myrcene, contain the same medical properties. (See a list of Cannabis Compounds and Uses)

Our preferred method of treatment is a full plant extract, with all of Cannabis' beneficial properties, rather than strictly an isolated CBD only extract oil. 

While, I understand that these clinical trials for Epidiolex to treat seizures are important for FDA approval and that it can help to advance the use of CBD oil in Idaho and the United States as a whole, I can't help but also point out that there are thousands of children in Idaho, like my sweet Lilly, who just do not have the time to wait. 

Not just the thousands that would qualify for the program, but the thousands of others who will not. 

Children suffering from illnesses like cancer, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, autism, and other conditions that Cannabis has already been proven to treat. Anecdotal stories, as well as through scientific studies are plentiful to those willing to research. Anyone with access to Google can find these studies, or you check out Granny Storm Crow's List of Cannabis Studies.

And these children, like my daughter, should not have to move to a state where Medical Marijuana is legal just so they can be treated RIGHT NOW. 

Why should any child have to leave their home, their family, and everything they know, just to ease their suffering now instead of later? Why should families be torn apart because they want their child to be well? Why should any child have to wait for even a chance at relief? Is that really how we treat our families in Idaho? Force the parents to choose between their home and the health of their children?

So many of them do not have time to wait for politics to change before their condition or illness ends with a fatality and broken hearts.

And what of the adults? We are children of Idaho, too.

Must we suffer while we wait for Idaho politics to change illogical laws? I, for one, absolutely refuse to wait. And I know there are thousands in the shadows of the "cannabis closet" behind me.

I willingly admit that I illegally use Marijuana in the State of Idaho to treat my disabilities, despite the law. I am more than willing to discuss this fact with anyone who wants to have a conversation about it. I truly believe that Idaho's Marijuana laws are bad laws, laws based on lies, and should not be laws at all. 

And the only way to change that is to talk about it.

I willingly risk going to jail *if I am charged* for my use, just so I can have a better quality of life right now. That *if* is worth the immediate relief. But I cannot risk my daughter's health, or the involvement of child protective services in her life, because Idaho's government isn't willing to change it's laws immediately.

Idaho's sick and disabled children, as well as the adults, should not have to wait for a choice in their health care. Especially one that is proven to be one of the safest therapeutic substance known to man, and has been studied more than many of the already FDA approved drugs. 

When did our medical choices become a government decision? Why should we have to wait on them to decide? I will not just stand by and wait for these greedy politicians to make up their minds about what is more profitable for Idaho and their pocketbooks while there are children suffering and dying without this medicine.

This is part of why I work with New Approach Idaho to change these laws.

A Medical Marijuana program that will provide safe access to this life saving medicine for those who qualify is the only logical step. 

23 other states, and Washington DC, have already given that option to their sick children. 

And it wasn't because the governments of all of those places made the decision for the people. 

In many, it was because the people demanded it.

So please help Idaho's government see that it's people demand safe access to Medical Marijuana. Not just for 25 children, but for all of Idaho's sick and disabled children... no matter their age. 

Please support Idaho's New Approach to Cannabis by signing and circulating the petition today.

Because we are all children of Idaho...
Marijuana IS Medicine...

And no one belongs in jail for a plant!