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from the smoking-stopped-son's-seizures-so-son-siezed dept.
They Let Their 15-Year-Old Son Smoke Pot to Stop His Seizures. Georgia Took Him Away. (archive)
The pharmaceuticals weren't working. The 15-year-old boy was having several seizures per day, and his parents were concerned his life was in danger. So Suzeanna and Matthew Brill, of Macon, Ga., decided in February to let their son try smoking marijuana — and his seizures stopped for 71 days, they say.
The Brills' decision led to the boy, David, being taken away from his parents, who face possible fines and jail time after being charged with reckless conduct for giving him the drug. David has now been in a group home for 30 days, and his seizures have returned. He is separated from the service dog that sniffed out his seizures, and he is able to communicate with his parents only during short visitations and phone calls.
They maintain they made the right decision for their son's health, despite their current predicament. "Even with the ramifications with the law, I don't care," said Mr. Brill, his stepfather. "For 71 days he was able to ride a bike, go play, lift weights. We were able to achieve that with David medicated not from Big Pharma, but David medicated with marijuana."
The Brill parents were jailed on April 20, and posted bond on April 25.
Since The New York Times published the article, Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum has received media attention and threatening phone calls, one of which he played back for reporters at a press conference.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Friday June 01 2018, @11:24PM
I'm 99% sure I'm terminal, and AFAIK everyone I know is also terminal (not sure about Jo, from what she's said she's in her 60s but looks to be in her 40s). Some happy lawyer will use this to let everyone smoke weed in Georgia :)
Joking aside, I understand why the drug companies don't want this. Some of these experimental drugs are fricken expensive and hard to make. If you say "hmmm, this looks like it might help for Lou Gehrig's disease" you will suddenly find your pool go from a couple hundred to a couple thousand. Do they have to make enough for everyone, instead of their besties?
I had a childhood friend die of Lou Gehrig's disease 3 years ago. He was a successful DJ in 2 countries (Japan and Australia), did a ton of voice acting, and got stricken 2 years before he died. He'd moved back in with his parents (who I saw at my Mom's funeral, but they never mentioned he was living with them and dying) and, when it came time to put in a feeding tube he said no. I talked to his sister after he died, he was adamant in nobody knowing where he was, nor that he was dying.
Dunno where I'm going with this except when my stories start with "when I was a kid we", 90% of the time Mike was the "we".
My ducks are not in a row. I don't know where some of them are, and I'm pretty sure one of them is a turkey.