Marijuana aids kids with seizures, worries doctors

Marijuana plants AP FILE PHOTO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado — The doctors were out of ideas to help 5-year-old Charlotte Figi.

 

Suffering from a rare genetic disorder, she had as many as 300 grand mal seizures a week and nearly died several times. As a last resort, her mother began calling medical marijuana shops.

 

Two years later, Charlotte is largely seizure-free and able to walk, talk and feed herself after taking oil infused with a special pot strain.

 

Her recovery has inspired both a name for the strain of marijuana she takes that is bred not to make users high — Charlotte’s Web — and an influx of families with seizure-stricken children to Colorado from states that ban the drug.

 

But doctors warn there is no proof that Charlotte’s Web is effective, or even safe.

 

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