Pubdate: Tue, 12 Aug 2014
Source: Guardian, The (CN PI)
Copyright: 2014 The Guardian, Charlottetown Guardian Group Incorporated
Contact:  http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/174
Page: A8

EPILEPTIC GIRL MAKES DRAMATIC RECOVERY, FAMILY PUSHES FOR POT OIL RESEARCH

PENTICTON, B.C. - The two-year-old Summerland, B.C., girl whose 
family is feeding her illegal cannabis oil has had a dramatic 
improvement in her seizure disorder.

Kyla Williams' family says in the past five months the oil given to 
the girl has greatly reduced the hundreds of seizures she was 
suffering from daily.

"We were astonished and so thankful when Kyla no longer had any 
seizures or only a very few each day. Her overall condition continues 
to improve both physically and mentally. Kyla is alert, increasingly 
socially interactive and loves sucking her thumb," Kyla's mother, 
Courtney Williams said.

The girl's grandmother, Elaine Nuessler, said numerous drugs were 
tried to stop the seizures. Doctors told the family that they were 
down to the last possible medication and Kyla may seizure for the 
rest of her short life.

"The seizures themselves and the medications prescribed by the 
doctors were causing a progressive deterioration," Nuessler said. 
Kyla had lost motor skills, couldn't suck her thumb and was becoming 
less responsive to the world around her.

They began using the illegal oil when a family member saw a feature 
on television about how cannabis helped children with epilepsy.

Now the family is urging the government to legalize such derivatives 
so more research can be done on the medical and health benefits.

Under the marijuana for medical purposes regulations, which came into 
effect April 1, licensed producers can only sell dried marijuana. 
It's illegal to sell derivative products such as oils or foods made 
from marijuana.

The family has run into problems because of the lack of information 
on characteristics of the many strains of marijuana and the limited 
quantities available, Nuessler said.

"When the supply of the first oil was exhausted, we tried oil from 
four other strains," Nuessler said.

While reducing seizure numbers and severity, those oils were not as 
effective as the first oil, she said. Kyla's grandfather, Chris 
Nuessler is a retired RCMP officer, who said he had to do a "180 on 
marijuana after seeing the benefits."

"It's critical that people educate themselves about medical marijuana 
and join in the struggle to have derivatives legalized," he said.

"Careful studies are needed to determine the exact composition and 
concentration of each compound in the various strains and their 
effectiveness in treatment," Chris said.

- - The Canadian Press
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