Pubdate: Wed,  5 Dec 2001
Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News (CO)
Copyright: 2001, Denver Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.rockymountainnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/371
Author: Wayne Wilson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mmj.htm (Cannabis - Medicinal)

MOM KEEPS SON ON MARIJUANA REGIMEN

Marijuana treatments prescribed for an 8-year-old boy with a mental 
disorder will continue, his mother said after a judge dismissed a 
petition that could have removed the child from her home.

"I can't believe it's finally over," the Rocklin woman declared after 
a brief appearance before Judge Colleen Nichols in Placer Superior 
Court Tuesday.

Although the court did not endorse her approach to therapy, it did 
conclude there is no need for an order protecting the boy from 
neglect or mistreatment, the woman said.

The only condition attached to the dismissal, she said, is her 
agreement to seek treatment from a pediatrician at least every six 
months.

Child Protective Services had stepped in last July once it learned of 
the treatment, accusing her of being unfit and contributing to the 
delinquency of a minor. The judge allowed her to continue the 
treatments while the case was being decided.

Neither the county nor an attorney representing the mother would 
comment on the proceedings because such matters are confidential 
under state law.

To protect the identity of the boy, neither his name nor the name of 
his mother are being published.

The woman said she has been using marijuana to treat her son's 
afflictions since May, when, as a last resort, she turned away from 
the more conventional drugs, "none of which ever worked."

Since shortly after the boy's birth, diagnoses offered by 16 
different physicians suggest he has been suffering from attention 
deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, 
obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and post-traumatic 
stress disorder.

He demonstrated extreme changes in mood, energy and behavior, began 
biting and hitting other children and was literally unmanageable, his 
mother said.

"By the time he was 2, he'd been in and out of well over seven or 
eight preschools," she said. "And by the time he was 4, he'd been 
banned from all of Placer County's child-care system."

His brain disorder on three different occasions led to psychiatric 
hospitalizations, she said.

Treatment with numerous conventional medications resulted in adverse 
reactions that were "heart-wrenching," said the mother, who stumbled 
upon the idea of marijuana therapy in a desperate Internet search.

Although federal law still considers marijuana to be an illegal 
substance, Proposition 215, an initiative passed by California voters 
in 1996, legalized, under state law, the medical use of marijuana 
with a doctor's recommendation.

Initially, the mother prepared the boy's "medicine" in the form of 
muffins, which she fed him regularly.

The results were immediate, she said.

Her son's behavior improved markedly. His mood swings leveled off. He 
developed friendships with children in the neighborhood.

And this year he had his first ever birthday party.

 From the time of her first court appearance in early July, the mother 
has been maintaining her son's treatment with the approval of the 
court, she said.

The boy doesn't know he's receiving marijuana, she said. To him, it's 
just medicine.

It hasn't been a cure-all, the mother explained.

"He still has challenges. I expect him to have bad days. But he's 
maintained more than he has on any other medication," she said.
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