Legislative proponents of medical marijuana in Florida say a new form of pot from Colorado may be the product that makes the idea more palatable. It’s called Charlotte's Web.
This is a story about a Colorado toddler named Charlotte Figi who was born with a genetic condition that causes frequent and violent seizures. By the age of three, Charlotte was having dozens of seizures a day and could no longer walk, talk or eat. Her parents heard of a form of marijuana that might help, and they tried it.This girl is living a relatively normal life and mot having 300 seizures a week", said Democratic State Representative Katie Edwards of Plantation.
Edwards will introduce a Florida House committee to Charlotte's Web next week. She and North Florida Republican Matt Gaetz are planning to file a bill to legalize it for medical uses. Edwards say Charlotte's Web was bred to be high in therapeutic properties but almost useless for getting high. Furthermore, patients would use it by ingesting an oil made from the weed. Parents would not be giving their children joints to smoke.
"They feel much more comfortable if they can give the child something they can administer orally or through a feeding tube", Edwards said. "I think that's something parents feel comfortable with."
Charlotte's Web is produced only in Colorado, where marijuana has been essentially legal since New Year's Day. But it would be against federal and most other state laws to transport it from Colorado. The committee hearing on Charlotte's Web is scheduled for Thursday at the state capitol.