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MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL APPROVAL PLEASES LOCAL MOM

Erin Mccann's 12-Year-Old Son Has Intractable Epilepsy, May Benefit From Drug

WORCESTER - The passage of a medical marijuana bill this week by the state House has given hope to a Worcester mother who treats her 12-yearold son for daily seizures.

"Ryan was 9 months old when he was diagnosed with infantile spasms.  The doctors call it intractable epilepsy now that he is older," said Erin McCann.  "He has seizures that include head drops of 20 to 40 times over 15 minutes.  He has two ( seizure ) clusters a day from this condition."

McCann said Ryan is treated with an anti-seizure medication but it is not effective.

"He still has the seizures.  We're hoping to find the right combination that will stop the seizures," she said.  "We have been through 13 drugs and none of them have been effective."

Ryan, who just turned 12 on Wednesday, attends a special education class daily, his mother said.

"He has had seizures in the classroom," she said.  "He gets confused after he has had a cluster of seizures."

Two years ago McCann got state Rep.  Mike Vereb, R-150th Dist., involved in fighting for the medical marijuana bill and Vereb held a town hall meeting in Lower Providence to explore the ramifications of the bill.

"I heard from families in my district and across the state who will benefit from this bill two years ago when I had the town hall meeting," Vereb said.  "I knew then and there we were missing an opportunity to help people who are suffering."

The House bill passed Wednesday in a 149-43 vote will set standards for growers, dispensaries and physicians.  Patients could take the drug in pill, oil or liquid form, but would not be able to obtain marijuana they could smoke.

The bill would allow people to buy marijuana from a dispensary after they have been certified by a medical practitioner to have one of the 17 enumerated conditions.  Those conditions include cancer, epilepsy, autism, Parkinson's disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, multiple sclerosis, AIDS, glaucoma and chronic or intractable pain.

A similar bill was passed by the Senate last year and lawmakers will have to reconcile differences between the two versions before it is sent to Gov.  Tom Wolf for his signature.  He has said he will sign the legislation into law.

State Sen.  Daylin Leach, D-17th Dist., a co-sponsor of SB3, recalled the Senate bill passed on May 12, 2015 by a vote of 40-7 with 21 Republicans and 19 Democrats voting for the bill.

"Twenty-three states have legalized medical cannabis in the United States.  When the Senate passed Senate Bill 3 last year, national experts agreed that it would be the best medical cannabis protocol in the country," Leach said.  "I intend to sit down with Senator Folmer and the advocates to review the House's changes to our bill while keeping in mind our goal from the beginning of this process: to provide medicine to as many patients as possible, as soon as possible."

Under the proposal, the state would license up to 25 growers and processors, and as many as 50 dispensaries, which could each operate three locations.

Before the House vote was taken, Vereb argued for approval.

"I urge a 'yes' vote, Mr.  Speaker, as a former law enforcement officer, as a former narcotics officer, as a parent and as a relative of a nephew tragically going through an opiate addiction that needs to be fixed," Vereb said.

McCann, a resident of Worcester for 13 years, has been a member of the Campaign for Compassion, a group of about 15 mothers with children with epilepsy.

"We're hoping it gets to the governor's desk next week," McCann said.  "We hope it will allow some ( legal ) protections so people are able to access it before the program will get up and running.  It might take two years before the program begins."