Pubdate: Wed, 12 Nov 2014
Source: Gwinnett Daily Post, The (GA)
Copyright: 2014 Post-Citizen Media Inc.
Contact:  http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2480
Author: Joshua Sharpe

'NOBODY CAN HELP US HERE': FAMILY MOVING WEST FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA

The Isabellas are tired of waiting on Georgia.

Next month, the Lawrenceville family plans to pull up roots and head
for Colorado, where they can obtain a non-intoxicating form of medical
marijuana for 7-year-old Brooke Isabella, who suffers from a chronic
seizure disorder.

"Nobody can help us here," said father Chip Isabella, who was among
parents rallying legislators earlier this year to allow an oil form of
the drug in Georgia. "We're just stuck and we're tired of it. We
could've had medical marijuana right here and been using it. We're
tired of playing. Let's go."

The decision came in October after the former Jackson Elementary
student's most recent hospital stay.

News of the failed medical marijuana vote last week in the state of
Florida didn't help matters. Neither did the death of Newton County
21-year-old Mary Elizabeth Hopkins earlier this month. Hopkins also
suffered from seizures that many believe could have been eased by
cannabis oil, had Georgia's legislators not become locked in a
political back-and-forth and failed to pass a bill allowing the drug
in March.

Chip Isabella said he had talked to Hopkins' mother a few days before
the young woman's death, about how both families planned to move to
Colorado soon.

"She's texting me on Facebook saying, 'How soon are you going? We're
right behind you, we gotta go,' and like four days later her daughter
passes away," he said. "It's too much. That reaffirms our decision to
go. Everything just keeps saying, 'Go, go, go, go, go, get the hell
out of here.'"

The family plans to do just that on Dec. 10.

In Colorado, they will join a growing number of Georgia families who
have sought medical refuge in the western state because of its lax
laws on marijuana.

The father, who works in the real estate industry, will be able to
continue his career remotely. He says he is now the sole breadwinner.
His wife Sally Isabella left her job after Brooke's last hospital
stint so she could better care for the girl.

To make it by, the family will receive help from the Journey of Hope
Fund, a nonprofit started partly by state Rep. Allen Peake, a Macon
Republican who led the medical marijuana push in Georgia this year and
plans to revive the fight in January.

Still, the father says the move will take the family thousands out of
pocket. They are raising money online at:

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/move-brooke-now/255829

As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $15,000 of the $19,500 goal had
been given.

But the emotional ramifications also have a cost.

Weighing most heavily on the parents is that Brooke's 12-year-old
brother, Nick, will have to start over at a new school in Colorado,
not knowing anyone. His comfort has been one of the driving factors -
along with leaving behind a support system of family and close family
friends - in the Isabellas' decision to stay in Georgia.

"The last 30 to 45 days, he sees all that goes on and says, 'Why don't
we just go to Colorado? What are we waiting for?'" Chip Isabella said.
"Even the 12-year-old realizes the failure in the system."

The "system," the father said, has failed them so badly that he isn't
sure if they'll ever return to Georgia, their adopted home of seven
years after moving to Lawrenceville from Florida.

"Truthfully, at this point, it doesn't matter," he said. "To me, you
just have to rip the Band-Aid. I'm 95 percent sure I would not return
to the state of Georgia for any reason at this point. They ruined it."
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MAP posted-by: Matt