Medical Cannabis and Kids

Even though legal access to cannabis has become easier in the last few years, most people are still struggling to get ahold of the medicine. However, those fortunate enough to live in a state or area tolerant of medical cannabis have extraordinary stories to report. Particularly young children seem to benefit tremendously from the treatment. Vice took a closer look at what’s currently going on with medical cannabis and kids.

The excitement about cannabis and kids got started with a recent documentary about Charlotte, a six year old with severe epileptic seizures. Charlotte's parents decided to give her cannabis oil with high concentrations of CBD, a non-psychoactive cannabinoid. And they had fantastic success. The child, who was wheelchair bound and crippled by her frequent seizures, is now an active apparently normal child with seizure activity reduced to two per week.

The phenomenon is in very early stages, and it’s only really happening in the USA. Particularly in Oregon and California have passed laws that allow cannabis as an alternative treatment for kids, however, outside these areas parents are left with what is offered on the black market. Although the results of the treatment speak for themselves - up to 75% of epileptic children benefit from the treatment - the stigmatization of cannabis is magnified when it comes to children.


The Vide documentary „Stoned Kids“ follows the case of a young child, Mykayla from Penleton, Oregon, a state where prescription of medical marihuana is legal. Mykayla has leukemia. Until recently she was nearly comotose and unable to eat. Her course of chemotherapy appears to have been ineffective. Her parents decided to try medical cannabis to treat her. On a regimen of cannabis oil, Mykayla showed what appears to be miraculous improvement: She now appears to live and behave healthy and normally. Apparently the child is still under medical supervision and chemotherapy treatment as well. The parents describe her leukemia to be in remission.

Evidence strongly suggests that medical marijuana has good effects on relieving the painful effects of chemo-therapy treatment. Clearly that has been the case for Mykayla. The question posed by the documentary is about whether you believe cannibis to have cured the cancer. The documentary does sketch an interesting theory about just how that may work.