420 with CNW — Mississippi Mom Believes Legalizing Medical Cannabis Would Transform Epileptic Daughter’s Health

January 19, 2022 04:25:00

We don’t know a lot about how cannabis affects the body, although anecdotal accounts and preliminary research shows that cannabis has some therapeutic ability. However, the consensus among most experts is that we need more research on cannabis. In the meantime, what we do know about the controversial plant is significant enough.

Studies have found that cannabis can reduce seizures suffered by children with intractable epilepsy. Furthermore, the FDA has approved a CBD-based drug called Epidiolex to treat two rare and severe forms of pediatric epilepsy: Dravet Syndrome and Lennox Gastaut Syndrome.

Gaining access to such cannabis-based epilepsy drugs is an entirely different story. As it stands, 36 states have legalized medical cannabis use. While that may seem like a lot of states, millions of Americans still cannot access medical cannabis. In Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Allie Byrd waits with bated breath as the conversation around medical cannabis in Mississippi continues. Her five-year-old daughter Avalyn May suffers from an ultra-rare disorder that causes daily seizures and requires a ton of seizure medication to alleviate.

In a Facebook post that has now been shared hundreds of times, Byrd says she noticed something was amiss in 2018. After exhibiting symptoms including chronic vomiting, Avalyn May was diagnosed with a super-rare genetic brain disorder called STXBP1. The condition is so rare that only around 800 children in the entire world have it. Avalyn May has to take 16 pills every day to control the condition. She became a nonverbal child after the seizures started, and although the medications reduce the number of seizures she suffers, they have serious side effects.

After joining a group for parents whose children had the same genetic disorder, Byrd became close to a parent who informed her of THC’s potential in curing seizures. The parent moved to Colorado, where both medical and recreational cannabis are legal, and put her child on a THC treatment. Except for monthly flare ups, the child is “almost entirely” cured of the seizures and doesn’t use any seizure medication. With this information, Byrd hopes that her daughter will also respond positively to a cannabis-based treatment.

Unfortunately, Mississippi still doesn’t have a medical cannabis program. Although voters approved medical marijuana in the 2020 ballot, the vote was overturned by the Supreme Court due to a procedural issue. Governor Tate Reeves and the legislature are currently debating the details of the final medical cannabis bill. If passed, the bill will be life-changing for little Avalyn May, Byrd says. In the meantime, all she can do is hope.

If the cannabis legalization bill is eventually passed, patients such as Avalyn May could potentially benefit by taking their cannabis medicine with the help of state-of-the-art dose measuring devices, such as those commercialized by entities like RYAH Group Inc. (CSE: RYAH).

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to RYAH Group Inc. (CSE: RYAH) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://cnw.fm/RYAH

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