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"A Vermont mother believes medical marijuana could be the remedy her daughter, who suffers from epilepsy, needs to stop seizing.On the WPTZ App? Tap here to see the video.Seven-year-old Lexi\u2019s beaming smile suggests she is just like every other little girl.\u201CShe was born fine,\u201D said mother, Allison Rodgers. \u201CShe was born the day before her due date and there were no issues.\u201DBut at 18 months, things changed. Allison found Lexi with a 103-degree fever. She was suffering from a grand mal seizure.On the WPTZ App? Tap here for facts about marijuana.More than a half-decade later, doctors still are not sure exactly what triggers her seizures.\u201CEvery specialist we see is completely baffled and sends us on to another one,\u201D Allison said.Lexi has never had another grand mal seizure, but doctors said she is constantly seizing while she sleeps. She has lost her ability to speak and functions at the cognitive level of a 2-year-old, Allison said.Lexi takes three different medications and the nighttime seizures have not stopped.That\u2019s led Allison to explore other options. Talking with parents across the country, she discovered the Realm of Caring, a Colorado-based dispensary claiming to have developed a marijuana strain benefiting children with epilepsy.WPTZ was there when the Realm of Caring\u2019s founders visited the University of Vermont in November 2013. In that talk, one of the strain\u2019s creators, Josh Stanley, said it has a nearly 90 percent effective rate in epileptic children.\u201CShe\u2019s not getting high on it. That's the main key. She's not getting high,\u201D Allison said.This type of marijuana is not smoked. Instead, droppers filled with the plant\u2019s oil are put in food. The strain also does not make children high, as the psychoactive part of the cannabis, THC, is low.Allison is not giving the strain to her daughter, but she would like to. She hopes some Vermont dispensaries engineer something similar. Federal law prohibits the transfer of marijuana or plant seeds across state lines.\u201CShe's been on all these other medications. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work,\u201D Allison said. \u201CIt's just something else we've tried for her.\u201D\u201CWe are talking to several parents in the state at this point,\u201D said Shayne Lynn, executive director at Champlain Valley Dispensary in Burlington. Lynn runs a second medical marijuana dispensary in Brattleboro.He said he will not dispense to children, pointing to a federal Department of Justice memo stating the first priority in the department\u2019s marijuana enforcement initiative is to prevent \u201Cthe distribution of marijuana to minors.\u201DIf Lynn's dispensary is able to develop the right strain, parents, or what the state calls caregivers, can come in and get the product for them.\u201CWhat I've noticed is that parents are very cautious and trying to do what's best they can for their children,\u201D Lynn said.\u201CThe only available source right now, legitimate source, is through several states that are using it or offering it, but we can't get it legally,\u201D said Dr. Richard Morse, chief of pediatric neurology at the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock. \u201CSo far I haven't had anyone who has tried to who says it's terrible or there are side effects or it doesn't work, but again it\u2019s tiny numbers.\u201DMorse said he is hopeful medical marijuana could help his patients, but he\u2019s not sure. He points out that there is just not enough research about long-term effects. So far, he said two of his patients have tried medical marijuana, each with different results.\u201CI wouldn't hesitate to prescribe it, but again I think it needs a little more study at this point,\u201D Morse said.Back in Pittsford, Allison said she is worried Lexi\u2019s condition will worsen. Even with the stigma surrounding it, she said marijuana could be Lexi\u2019s answer.\u201CIf it\u2019s going to help her, we'll try anything,\u201D she said.According to the Department of Public Safety, there are about 1,200 patients on the Vermont medical marijuana registry.During this year\u2019s legislative session, lawmakers approved a new law removing the 1,000-patient limit on the number of patients who could obtain medical marijuana licenses.According to the department, five of the state\u2019s registered patients are under the age of 18. About 200 caregivers have signed up.Allison is waiting to hear from Lexi\u2019s doctor about their request.To follow Lexi's story, visit the family's Facebook page."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.mynbc5.com/article/could-medical-marijuana-be-a-7-year-old-s-cure/3316532>