Medical Marijuana

Cannabis for Kids, Are There Other Applications?, Source: http://llnw.wbez.org/main-images/child_holding_hand-ofdad.jpegThe craze of CBD oil and it’s profound effect on seizures, especially in the very young, has met mixed responses.

Parents who have seen CBD oil offer their children, literally, a shot at a decent life, swear by marijuana’s efficacy. On the other side, opponents think that no matter how amazing the results, cannabis has no place in the lives of children.

As a parent and cannabis supporter, I obviously tend to fall on the side of “in favor” of. It got me thinking about possible other reasons we may one day prescribe cannabis derivatives to our kids.

Comedian Louis CK has a bit where he talks about how he will have a hard time telling his kids not to do drugs because they are the perfect solution to everything that’s bothering them. He is, of course, being faceitious and not talking exclusively about cannabis, but he makes an interesting point. We live in days when children are given powerful anti-depressants and stimulants to combat anxiety, ADHD, depression and more. It’s hard to tell what’s effective and what isn’t. It’s also hard to say what damage is being done to their bodies from all the pharmaceuticals their poor little livers have to process.

My cousin recently told me about a friend of his whose family is embroiled in a custody battle with their daughter’s biological father. She is 12 years old and does not want to spend time with her father because he’s an emotionally abusive asshole, who is only trying to get time with her to get to her mother, his ex-wife. Last week, my cousin’s friend (the girl’s stepfather) was telling him how his stepdaughter, when confronted with the prospect of seeing her father, had a full blown panic attack. She was smacking her head, pulling her hair and crying hysterically.

I have been through this in my own life. I come from a divorced home and a blended family and there were times when I was too upset to do anything but stare at the floor or thrash about wildly. I spent my whole teenage years in abject rage, often beating my hands bloody against walls, trees, or frozen meat at the restaurant where I worked.

In my late teens/early twenties I found yoga and marijuana and my life took a complete 180. No longer angry, no longer filled with violence, I began to let the light into my heart for the first time I could remember. I cannot help but think that a few drops of cannabis oil in my teenage years could have greatly eased my mind and my pain.

I’m not saying marijuana will cure the problem. Had I used cannabis at a younger age, my parents would still have divorced, I would still have grown up in a complicated home. If my cousin’s friend’s stepdaughter had some CBD oil, her father would still be a piece of shit and she would still have to deal with what’s coming. But what cannabis can and did do (and still does to this day) is soften the expression of negative emotions. It can take the edge off the pain just enough to help you carry it to its terminus, to not spread more pain by virtue of the pain you’re already in.

My heart just broke hearing the pain of my cousin’s friend’s stepdaughter. I have been where she is and I know just how hopeless and desolate life can feel when you’re that young and your world comes crashing down atop your head. I sometimes still think about the way I treated others when I was angry, the way I treated myself, and I feel remorseful. That’s how pain propagates itself; when you’re stuck in a suffering cycle, you are unable to see how much suffering you cause.

I’m not a wizard or a scientist so I don’t know just how feasible this notion may be, but if cannabis has been able to help so many people with so many different problems, is it not possible that there could be some derivation of this plant that could help kids get through their crucibles without hurting themselves, others or developing a psychosis?

As far as we know, the possibilities are limitless. I just hope the US can someday (soon) truly begin to accept and explore cannabis.