Pubdate: Mon, 14 Sep 2015
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2015 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Tiffany Crawford
Page: A1

POT FOR KIDS SHOWS VALUE FOR SEIZURES, AUTISM

Access a problem for parents with research into use of cannabis oil in
its infancy

Kim Turkington's five-year-old daughter Ella was so heavily medicated
for seizures last year, she slept most of the day, her waking hours
spent in a deep state of melancholy.

"All day long she said, 'I feel sad.' Those were the only words that
came out of her mouth," said Turkington, who lives in Surrey with her
husband and two children. "She was a depressed fouryear-old and it was
terrible."

Ella, who has epilepsy and autism, has failed to respond to seven
seizure medications.

Her parents, desperate to try something new, have done a lot of
research about cannabis oil, which contains a low amount of the
psychoactive drug THC but significant amounts of cannabidiol or CBD.
CBD is believed to reduce seizures.

"Since Ella's been on the CBD oil, she's happy. Before she was
zombielike and now we find her personality is just so awake," said
Turkington, a speaker at State of the Science, Law, and Access to
Medical Marijuana: Implications for families with children with autism
and epilepsy, held Sunday in Richmond. Kim and her husband Rob
Turkington had read about the numerous success stories - stories about
children like Summerland toddler Kyla Williams, who went from 200
seizures a day to very few after being treated with cannabis oil.

So, working with a neurologist at BC Children's Hospital, Turkington
began giving her daughter cannabis oil in May and has since cut back
Ella's pharmaceutical dosage.

They are only giving her a low dose of CBD oil, but already they have
seen an improvement in Ella's health and happiness.

"The CBD oil is doing an OK job. She still has seizures multiple times
a day. But cognitively she is more alive and that for us is a really
big deal," Turkington said. "She sings and dances =C2=85 and we find that

she is paying attention more."

Sunday's seminar was organized by Project Bearings, an autism advocacy
group. Williams's grandmother Elaine Nuessler, an outspoken cannabis
oil advocate, was also one of the guest speakers.

Nuessler and her family founded medicalcannabisforsickkids.com and all
proceeds from the seminar will go to their organization.

While Ella still has several seizures a day, Turkington said they are
fewer than before the cannabis treatment and less severe. She's gone
from having 20 to 25 clusters a day, with five to 25 seizures per
cluster, to about four or five clusters, Turkington said.

The problem is that CBD oil is not regulated by Health Canada and
there have been no clinical trials done in Canada. It can be difficult
to find, and various strains can affect patients differently, so
knowing how much to give a child is often a question of trial and error.

Katie Olsen, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Paediatric Society, said
studies about treating kids' seizures with cannabis oil are still so
new that medical professionals have yet to reach a consensus on what
to recommend to parents who choose to give their children medical marijua
na.

"We don't have a position at this time, but it will be coming in the
near future," Olsen said. "We're looking at all the evidence to make a
well informed recommendation."

M.J. Milloy, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of
B.C., said while there have been case studies that show kids with
autism showing some improvement with CBD - for example, exhibiting
calmer behaviour - there is not enough evidence that it is a
therapeutic option for children with autism.

However, he said there is much more evidence to show that cannabinoids
may be helpful in treating epileptic seizures, noting a review this
month in the New England Journal of Medicine that cites a study of
children and young adults taking Epidiolex, a purified cannabis
extract with less than 0.10 per cent THC.

The preliminary report has shown that among 137 patients who received
12 weeks of treatments, the median reduction in seizures was 54.4 per
cent.

Turning to the illicit market speaks to the desperation of some
parents, and the inability of the medical system to provide access, he
said.

"You can't think that a system in which parents are turning to drug
dealers to get substances for their children is a reflection of the
triumph of the medical system."

Rielle Capler, a PhD candidate at UBC who has studied medical
marijuana access regulations for 15 years, said many parents may fear
having their children taken away or losing their jobs if they give
them cannabis as medicine. She also said parents are still having
trouble finding a health-care practitioner who will work with them to
administer and provide the right dosage of CBD oil.
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MAP posted-by: Matt