Marijuana Blog

Joey Wertman is a 9-month-old boy who has been diagnosed with a form of epilepsy that can cause the young child to have hundreds of spasms a day. These spasms will harm the development and growth of Joey and his parents have decided that medical marijuana is the best treatment for their boy. The family currently resides near Buffalo, New York and are planning to make the move to Arizona, where marijuana is legal for children under 18 providing they have certain conditions that merit the use of the plant.

 

Brittany and Joe Wertman, Joey's parents, have tried countless medications prescribed by doctors to try to help their little boy. Unfortunately, there has been no medicine yet that could stop or slow the boy's seizures. Medical marijuana is the family's final attempt at something that will help their son to grow up normal and healthy. Although there aren't many studies on the effects of CBD on children with epilepsy, parents who have given their children the plant swear by it's healing properties. Dr. Steven Wolf, the director of Pediatric Epilepsy at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York stated in an ABC News article, "I can say if this was my child and if there was a possibility it would work, I would certainly want to know. This is interesting but needs investigating".

 

Many children's families have reported a drastic improvement in the wellbeing of the child after starting treatments with CBD oil. Even after all other medicines have failed, CBD treatment seems to be an effective way of calming the seizures that children have and allowing them to live a more normal life. Hopefully, more studies will be done about the healing effects of CBD on children as compared to the potentially harmful effects that the medicines of Big Pharma may have. The Wertman's have a long journey ahead of them, just like many other families and we should send our positive thoughts their way and hope that cannabis can help their children.

When marijuana first became legal in Colorado, we knew that there would be problems that arose. We hoped that they wouldn't but it was pretty inevitable. In the small town of Penrose in southern Colorado, a place with only 3500 residents, they are beginning to see some negative effects of the impactful cannabis industry. Since the town is so small and there are seven approved grow operations in the small town, the other members of the community are worried that the marijuana may be harming their small town.

 

Apple Farm being the biggest grow operation in the town, with 17 green houses on it, most of which are full of cannabis plants. That's a good amount of plants and the neighbors are beginning to complain of the pungent cannabis smell leaking from the greenhouse walls. A group of concerned citizens has taken it upon themselves to make people aware of the problems that are beginning to occur because of the greenhouses, such as the smell, the use of the lights (which are bright at night according to neighbors), and the use of the small amount of water that the town has. The co-owner of Apple Farm, a man named Edward Vasquez, stated in an 11 New article that "we have been doing everything we can to be good neighbors in terms of odor control, light pollution, and water usage. Some of these things are pretty expensive."

 

The 17 greenhouses on Apple Farm have been equipped with blackout curtains to prevent light from leaking in to neighboring yards. In addition, there have been new air filters installed to assist in the decreased amount of smell as well as new watering systems designed to conserve. All of these changes were made voluntarily, as the town has no specific ordinances regarding this kind of issue. So in all fairness, at least the greenhouses are putting in a valiant effort to keep their neighbors appeased. The problems in Penrose will eventually be smoothed over and citizens will all be able to leave in peace.

On Friday, more than 40 state lawmakers in Maine co-signed a memo authored by State Representative Diane Russell that was delivered to the Appropriations & Financial Affairs Committee. The memo encouraged the committee to keep all options on the table in their upcoming financial deliberations, including potential tax revenue derived from an adult, non-medical market for marijuana.

 

“All options should be on the table,” Rep. Russell stated in the memo, “In this spirit, we propose committee members give serious consideration to the revenue options associated with legalizing, taxing and regulating cannabis for responsible adult use.”

 

The memo was signed by prominent elected officials in the state including Majority Leader Troy Jackson (D-Allagash), House Majority Leader Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham), Minority Whip Alex Willette (R-Mapleton), House Chair of Criminal Justice and Public Safety and former County Sheriff Rep. Mark Dion (D-Portland), and House Health and Human Services Committee Chairman Richard Farnsworth (D-Portland).

 

In 2013, the Maine House of Representatives fell just four votes short of approving a measure introduced by Rep. Russell which would have placed the issue of marijuana legalization before voters during the fall elections.

 

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