Pubdate: Sun, 10 Nov 2013
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Kirsten Stewart

FAMILIES MIGRATE TO COLORADO FOR MARIJUANA MIRACLE

The Waiting List for the Cannabis Extract Includes About 30 Kids in 
Utah Whose Parents Hope to Import What They Consider an 'Herbal' Remedy.

DENVER - Piper rolls back and forth across a large blanket on the 
living room floor, windmilling her arms and kicking her legs.

"Who's a happy girl?" asks her mom, Annie Koozer, kneeling over the 
2-year-old with a small, oil-filled syringe. Piper fusses as Annie 
squirts a tiny amount into the side of her mouth.

"What do you think about that? That's not too bad, especially if it 
makes you feel better," says Annie.

It could take days or weeks before Annie and her husband, Justin 
Koozer, know whether the medicine controls Piper's debilitating 
seizures. But waiting is familiar ground for the young Tennessee 
family that has tried virtually every pharmaceutical fix available, 
traveled 1,300 miles to get here and waited more than two months for 
what may be their best and final hope: cannabis.

The Koozers are part of a migration of families uprooting their lives 
and moving to Colorado, where the medicinal use of marijuana is 
permitted. More than medical tourists, they are medical refugees, 
forced to flee states where cannabis is off limits.

"This is just the first wave," said Margaret Gedde, a Colorado 
Springs physician with a doctorate from Stanford who prescribes 
marijuana and has compiled case studies of children using 
cannabis-infused oil. "These families are going to keep coming as 
awareness spreads because the results are real."

Gedde has been monitoring 11 children with seizure disorders who are 
taking the same cannabis extract Piper is receiving, and she will 
present her findings at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy 
Association in December.

Nine of the children have had a 90 to 100 percent reduction in their 
seizures, she said. The parents of one child aren't sure the oil has 
helped, but it hasn't hurt. And the other had a 50 percent reduction.

"It's absolutely remarkable," she said.

Medical marijuana is currently legal in 20 states, plus D.C. and 
Portland, Maine. But Colorado has become the go-to place for an 
extract from a plant that's high in cannabidiol (CBD) but low in 
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical component of 
marijuana that creates a high in users.

Marijuana entrepreneurs and cultivators Joel, Jesse, Jonathan, 
Jordan, Jared and Josh Stanley call it Charlotte's Web, named for the 
Colorado Springs girl who tried it first and went from having 300 
seizures a week to about two a month. Videos showing a once-catatonic 
Charlotte Figi now talking, running on a beach and horseback riding 
have lured families from far and wide.

The number of children younger than 14 with marijuana "red cards" 
tripled in the last five months from seven in March to 21 in August, 
according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

A waiting list the Stanleys keep for their CBD extract numbers about 
200 and growing, said Josh Stanley, the oldest of the six brothers 
running the non-profit (http://realmofcaringfoundation.org/Realm of 
Caring Foundation. The list includes about 
(https://www.facebook.com/Hope4Children)30 kids in Utah whose 
parents, instead of relocating, are lobbying for 
(http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56788108-78/marijuana-utah-medical-stockton.html.csp)permission 
to import the "herbal" remedy, which they've dubbed Alepsia. Since 
it's so low in THC, 
(http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56968773-78/epilepsy-utah-isaac-sintz.html.csp)they 
argue, it meets U.S. 
(http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/ages/ages001e.aspx#.Unp5vhzPUkI)agricultural 
standards for hemp, which is used in products such as clothing and lotions.

Next week they hope to receive the blessing of Utah's 
(http://dopl.utah.gov/programs/csac/index.html)Controlled Substance 
Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on the scheduling, or 
classification, of drugs.

'My heart is heavy'

The Koozers believe Piper is the first child with Aicardi syndrome to 
try Charlotte's Web.

Aicardi is a rare chromosomal disorder characterized by infantile 
spasms, or seizures, and the partial or complete absence of a 
structure in the brain called the corpus callosum.

Doctors discovered Piper was missing the thick band of nerve fibers 
that divides her cerebrum into left and right hemispheres when she 
was in the womb, during a 20-week ultrasound.

"We went to find out if we were having a girl or boy ... Ten minutes 
later we learned there was something wrong with how her brain was 
developing," Annie wrote on a (http://thekoozers.blogspot.com/blog 
she keeps to update friends and family.

Almost all the cases have been girls. There is no cure; most children 
die either before the age of 1 or in their early teens.

For months after she was born Piper seemed to develop normally, 
cooing, making eye contact and flashing dimpled grins right on cue.

"She is already trying to roll over," Annie blogged on Sept. 12, 
2011. "We are amazed at what she can do already, and she is just 3.5 
weeks old!"

The doctor suggested that, unless she suffered delays, to wait until 
she turned 2 to put her through the stress of testing.

A month later she had her first seizures and her first long stint in 
a hospital.

"My heart is heavy and my mind, body and spirit are tired ... I am 
trying to give my worry to God but it is easier said than done. I'm 
not sure I will ever feel like myself again," Annie wrote on November 11, 2011.

'So helpless and frustrated'

That year was a blur of doctor visits and brain scans as the Koozers 
searched for a drug to calm the seizures.

To date, they have tried nine therapies, including phenobarbital. It 
left Piper like a zombie, said Annie. "She was sedated and lost 
muscle tone. She stopped smiling for nine months."

While weaning her from the barbituate the family sought approval to 
use vigabatrin, then an investigational treatment known as a "wonder 
drug" in the Aicardi community.

One of the side effects, however, is permanent vision loss. Already 
Piper's retinas are dotted with small holes, one of the markers of 
her disease. She has good vision but probably sees the world as if 
she's looking through Swiss cheese, Annie surmises.

"Last night we had a particularly bad night. She wasn't able to fall 
asleep until 4 a.m. because she just had cluster after cluster [of 
seizures]...250 in a 6 hour period," Annie blogged on Valentine's Day 
in 2012, days before receiving approval. "I felt so helpless and 
frustrated I would have done anything to help her (like give her 
vigabatrin). I guess God is giving me a sign."

It cut her seizures in half, but the Koozers wanted a better therapy 
with less harsh side effects. They were out of options.

Their neurologist in Tennessee supports the couple's decision to try 
cannabis, which they learned about through support groups on Facebook.

"He understands we've reached the end of the line. There's one more 
drug, but it has a high chance of liver failure and he recommended 
waiting to try it when Piper is older," said Justin.

CBD mystery

Scientists are still learning how CBD works. One theory is that it 
modulates the transmission of electrical signals in the brain.

The human body makes endocannnabaniods similar, but not identical, to 
cannabinoid compounds in marijuana, said Gedde. "We have receptors to 
cannabinoids all throughout our bodies."

In our brains and nervous systems, messages are sent through 
electricity from cell to cell, directing them to perform activities. 
With epilepsy, those signals get out of control, like an electrical storm.

The research is incomplete but some studies suggest cannabinoids, 
when released, have a dampening effect on those signals, calming the 
seizures, Gedde said. "So kids with epilepsy, it could be that their 
natural cannabinoid system is insufficient."

But Igor Grant, director of the (http://www.cmcr.ucsd.edu/Center for 
Medicinal Cannabis Research at the University of California, San 
Diego, urges caution. "What we don't know is, do most children 
benefit or is there some subset who uniquely benefit?" he said. "We 
also don't know if it's doing some harm .. CBD is not psychoactive, 
but that doesn't mean it's harmless." Another big question is how 
long CBD's curative effects will last. "What can happen with any new 
anti-seizure medicine is you get seizure reduction for awhile - they 
call it the honeymoon - but then it stops working," said Gedde. Realm 
has documented two children - 
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH5yzEu3JGQ&feature=youtu.be)Charlotte 
and Zaki (pronounced Za-chai) - who have used the oil successfully 
for more than a year. And both children are not only virtually 
seizure-free, they're gaining developmental ground as their brains 
appear to be forming new connections.

"It works really well, it appears to keep working and it doesn't have 
the side effects and toxicity of other anti-seizure meds," Gedde said.

Evidence of cannabinoids' anti-seizure potential dates back to the 
1840s, including studies in labs, animals and humans. And GW 
Pharmaceuticals is running clinical trials of a purified form of CBD.

The 11 children Gedde has been monitoring all have "convulsive-type 
seizures and severe [developmental] delays," she said. "We focused on 
them because they are the most severe and we wanted the results to be 
comparable to [GW Pharmaceuticals'] studies."

Some of the children have genetic disorders, she said, and "others 
had brain damage from not getting enough oxygen at birth. Another 
family had a storage disease where metabolytes build up in the body 
and become toxic."

'Stay objective'

It could take years for GW's drug to win federal approval and Gedde 
wonders if it will work as well as the whole plant extract, which 
also contains trace amounts of other cannabinoids.

And for families like the Koozers, time is brain matter.

Piper is about 4 to 5 months of age developmentally. She can't talk 
but is pretty easygoing, said Annie. "She gets that from her Dad."

On a bad day Piper has three to four 10-minute clusters of seizures. 
She's unable to sleep through the night and as she's gotten older, 
they seem to upset her more, said Annie. "It could mean she's 
developing. Since she turned 2 she has things that she really 
dislikes, such as having her clothes changed or brushing her hair. 
But it's hard to see her scream and cry."

The Stanley brothers feel the urgency, too.

On Oct. 25 they moved 20 patients off the waiting list, including 
Piper, providing them with their first batch at one of their 
dispensaries in Colorado Springs.

On any given morning, there's a line of customers waiting to be 
buzzed inside, some in pin-stripe shirts, others covered in tattoos - 
and lately, moms pushing strollers and wheelchairs.

After they show their red card and sign in, they're escorted to a 
glass case in the back filled with jars of bud with names such as 
Orange Kush and Choco-lope, pre-rolled joints and pot brownies.

Parents receive bottles of liquid medicine mixed to order, based on 
their child's weight.

"We tell parents not to expect miracles, to stay objective and have 
no loyalty to the medicine and to stop using it if it doesn't work or 
they see any ill side effects," said Joel Stanley. "It's just like 
any other medicine."

Found by parents

The waiting list for Charlotte's Web is carefully managed because 
once someone comes off, (http://realmofcaringfoundation.org/Realm of 
Caring guarantees them a future supply. They reserve Charlotte's Web, 
the highest of their high-CBD strains, for children so they don't run out.

They sell the oil to parents for children at about cost, $6 per dose, 
and provide it free to families who can't afford it.

Raised in Colorado Springs, a conservative military town with strong 
Protestant leanings, the Stanley brothers were educated at a 
Christian prep school. Josh Stanley started growing marijuana about 
five years ago and later convinced his brothers to help expand operations.

"There were times where we worked without pay. We were spending no 
time with our families; we had no life," said Jordan Stanley. "I was 
just about to throw in the towel when we discovered Charlotte."

The brothers are uncomfortable with the idea that some customers 
feign symptoms to get red cards. Marijuana is abused by some people, 
acknowledges Joel Stanley. "But it's those people who subsidize 
patients like Piper."

The Stanley brothers (http://michiganherbalremedies.com/aren't the 
only source of high-CBD strains of cannabis. In fact, Charlotte 
Figi's mom, Paige, decided to try it after seeing a video of a child 
in California who used a strain called R4, said Gedde.

But they grow the highest CBD strain that Figi has been able to find. 
The oil has helped Charlotte, now 7, behaviorally and intellectually.

Her autism-like behaviors of self-injury, crying and violence are a 
thing of the past and she is clear-headed and bright-eyed, said Paige 
Figi. "We are almost two years into this. We hit our peak seizure 
control at about six months but she's gaining skills and learning new 
words every week," she said.

"Most moms take for granted that when you look in your baby's eyes 
they'll hold your gaze. To see that happen for the first time is 
just..." she said, searching for a word to convey the depth of that emotion.

Figi now advises other parents and helps raise money for 
(http://realmofcaringfoundation.org/Realm of Caring, which is 
exploring an expansion to California to meet growing demand for its oil there.

She and an epileptologist are co-authoring an article for the journal 
Neurology in which they debate with other researchers the benefits of 
whole plant CBD extracts versus pharmaceutical-grade CBD.

The argument that long-term effects are unknown doesn't hold water 
for Figi, who hasn't seen negative side effects in Charlotte. "But 
I'm happy to check that box and work with scientists to prove it. The 
answer to 'We don't know enough' is going to be found, and it's going 
to be found by parents."

The 'what-ifs'

The Koozers arrived in Denver in August and made speedy work of 
applying for a red card. But it's a big change from Tennessee, where 
no pro-marijuana movement exists, though they hope to stir debate by 
sharing their story.

They've had to downsize, having moved from a four-bedroom home to a 
cramped, two-bedroom apartment in Denver, located near the airport so 
Justin can commute to work and close to a hospital in case of emergencies.

Annie, now 30 weeks pregnant with their second child, a boy, spends 
long stretches of time alone changing diapers, hand-feeding Piper and 
monitoring her seizures while Justin, a manager for a supplier to the 
mining industry, travels for work.

"You're completely re-establishing your whole life," said Justin, 28. 
"We don't have a support system. We don't have friends. We had to 
find a new church, new doctors and therapists."

Family can visit, but the Koozers are staying indefinitely. "We can't 
leave the state with the extract or it would be a federal offense," 
said Annie, 33. "We just felt like if we knew something was out there 
that might work and we didn't try it we'd be doing the 'what if's' 
our whole life."

The Koozers were given a two-month supply of oil, which they'll 
introduce gradually, starting with three .1 milliliter doses a day. 
If they see improvements, they'll start weaning Piper off her other 
medications.

A neurologist is monitoring Piper's progress and the Koozers document 
her seizures.

But there is no playbook to follow. Some kids, like Charlotte, have 
stopped seizing immediately and others have taken months to see results.

The night of her first dose Piper got 10 hours of sleep. Two weeks 
later, she is still seizing. "It's been up and down," Annie said last week.

But on Halloween the Koozers got a glimpse of a hoped-for future.

"It was the best day she's ever had her whole life," Annie said. 
Piper was happy and alert, laughing at appropriate intervals during a 
game of peek-a-boo with Justin, who had just returned from a trip, 
she explained. "It was almost like she knew he was back. Most of the 
time he comes home and she doesn't even notice."

"I'm not expecting her to stand up and walk," she said. "But it's 
kind of like she's waking up a little bit, more able to experience 
things, laugh and be a kid. That would be really huge for us."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom