Pubdate: Wed, 06 Jul 2016
Source: Record, The (Kitchener, CN ON)
Page: B5
Copyright: 2016 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.therecord.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/225
Author: Liam Casey

BORDER TO SEIZE MARIJUANA TREATMENT FOR EPILEPTIC KIDS

Families Upset After Canadian Border Agents Move to Stop Marijuana 
Oil Shipments

Parents of children suffering from epilepsy say a recent move by 
Canadian border agents to seize shipments of medical marijuana oil 
from an American company could have a catastrophic effect on their 
children's health.

The families have sent letters to the federal government pleading for 
the border to allow shipments of Charlotte's Web, a type of marijuana 
oil that has been touted by some researchers as an effective therapy 
for hard-to-treat forms of epilepsy.

Charlotte's Web - named after a five-yearold Colorado girl with 
epilepsy whose condition improved after being treated with marijuana 
oil - has very low levels of the psychoactive ingredient 
tetrahydrocannabinol, but is high in cannabidiol, or CBD.

Some scientists think CBD quiets the excessive electrical and 
chemical activity in the brain that causes seizures, although they 
say more research in needed.

The families say they have been purchasing the oil from CW Hemp, a 
company based in Colorado, where marijuana was legalized in 2014 and 
has since become a $1-billion industry. But the company notified the 
families late last month that it had stopped accepting Canadian 
online orders after "a drastic" increase in the number of shipments 
seized at the border.

Canada Border Services Agency said it is simply enforcing the law 
because marijuana remains illegal in Canada. The federal government 
has said it will legalize and regulate marijuana some time next year.

Alex Repetski uses Charlotte's Web as part of the marijuana oil he 
concocts at his Thornhill home for his four-year-old daughter, Gwen, 
who lives with epilepsy that has left her developmentally delayed. 
The 42-year-old father claims the treatment has allowed his daughter 
to live seizure free for 20 months, and has helped her learn to walk and talk.

Repetski and other parents of children with epilepsy who use 
Charlotte's Web say Canadian companies do not offer a comparable product.

Not being able to receive the oil from CW Hemp "is a big problem," 
Repetski said.

"It's not allowing me to further tune her treatment in the hope and 
theory that she can do even better."

The families have asked Health Canada for an exemption to allow 
shipments across the border.

Sylwia Krzyszton, a spokesperson with Health Canada, said families 
can either turn to marijuana oil made in Canada or individuals can 
apply for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

A spokesperson at CW Hemp said it hopes to resume shipping 
Charlotte's Web at some point.

"We are working in good faith with Health Canada to devise a solution 
so that we can provide our customers with Charlotte's Web in a manner 
that is expressly approved by the Canadian government," Ryan 
Kingsbury said in an email to The Canadian Press. But time is running 
out for some families. Elaine Nuessler said her four-year-old 
granddaughter, Kyla Williams, only has about a month's supply of 
Charlotte's Web.

Williams, who lives with her mother and grandmother in Summerland, 
B.C., has intractable epilepsy and Nuessler said that while on 
prescribed medication, the girl would suffer more than 300 seizures per day.

Canadian marijuana oil helped for a period of time, but when it 
stopped working, Nuessler said they turned to Charlotte's Web. She 
said Kyla has been seizure-free since turning to the American 
marijuana oil five weeks ago.

"Why would we actually change what's working? The slightest change 
can cause these children with epilepsy to go into seizures again," 
Nuessler said.

"Kyla's condition is life threatening should she start the seizures again."

Repetski and Nuessler said they are now considering other ways to get 
the American marijuana oil should nothing change.

The parents of a 15-year-old girl with epilepsy who have also been 
purchasing Charlotte's Web from CW Hemp said they have found a 
solution, even if it's not legal.

The couple, who live in Nelson, B.C., and who didn't want to be 
identified for fear of being prosecuted by authorities, said they now 
have their online oil order shipped to a friend in nearby Washington 
State. Then they drive there to pick it up and sneak it across the border.
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