Katelyn Pauling, Face of Minnesota MMJ, Passes Away

The name Katelyn Pauling may not mean much to the world’s non-stop news cycle, but her’s is a name worth knowing.

Katelyn Pauling was an 8 year old girl who passed away last week from a fatal neurological disease called Batten disease, which causes, among other things, severe seizures. At 18 months old, Katelyn was diagnosed and her body steadily declined until her death.

Katelyn is no doubt a special child to her family and friends, but she is also of vital importance to the medical cannabis community in Minnesota, the United States, and indeed, the world at large.

Batten disease is fatal. There is at this time, no known cure. However, Katelyn’s parents became the unofficial spokespeople for a medical cannabis bill in Minnesota. Jeremy Pauling, Katelyn’s father, estimates that he put about 15,000 miles on his truck driving his daughter from Montevideo, where they live, to the State Capitol and back.

Mr. Pauling, fully aware that Batten disease has no cure, simply sought medical cannabis as a way to ease his daughter’s strife and perhaps prolong her life. Katelyn accompanied him when he spoke to lawmakers as he pushed for the state to allow medical cannabis.

“She put a face to the kids that are hurting,” commented Mr. Pauling. “She changed a lot of people in a lot of different ways, not only at the State Capitol, but our community and kids in our community. I think they will grow up better because of it.”

Indeed, they will. Thanks in no small part to Katelyn’s presence and her father’s dedication, Minnesota’s first medical cannabis distribution center will open on July 1st in Minneapolis. Sadly, this was not soon enough for Katelyn to reap the benefits, but her courageous journey certainly threw open the doors for others.

How many more stories about sick kids and adults suffering needlessly is it going to take before the feds get off their ass and just reclassify cannabis so we can stop all this nonsense?