Court’s marijuana ruling hurts epileptic kids
What would you think of a person who took away seizure medication from an epileptic child? What if that person were … you? Us.
Because it is.
The people who represent you and me in legal matters, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, just won a case in the Arizona Court of Appeals that — if it holds up — would prevent a 10-year-old girl named Reese from getting a treatment that has reduced her epileptic seizures by 70 percent:
Cannabis oil.
The same would be true for many other children in Arizona currently being treated successfully with the marijuana extract.
“To hear the news of this ruling is devastating,” said Kerry D’Ortenzio, Reese’s mother. “Not only has it made us talk about moving out of state, which would be devastating for our three other teenage daughters, but it has made me feel very alone. I know these activists are so laser-focused on ridding the world of marijuana that they are unable to see the positive effects it has on people who are dearly loved here in our state.”
Among the “activists” Kerry refers to are Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery and Yavapai County
Attorney Sheila Polk, each of whom vehemently opposed the medical-marijuana law.
Montgomery has threatened families like Kerry’s with prosecution for trying to improve the lives of their epileptic children by using cannabis oil. A few years back, he was prepared to act against the parents of a 5-year-old Mesa boy with epilepsy but was prevented from going forward by a judge.
But that didn’t end it for our most zealous prosecutors.
The case decided by the Court of Appeals involved a medical-marijuana patient from Yavapai County named Rodney Jones. He was arrested in 2013 in Prescott for possession of 0.05 ounces of “hashish” in a jar. It’s made from the marijuana plant’s resin. Like the oils. It’s also used in edibles.
The court upheld Jones’ conviction, saying voter-approved marijuana law doesn’t include products made from the plant’s resin.
It was a 2-1 ruling, with dissenting Judge Kenton Jones pointing out the obvious, writing, “The resin extracted from the marijuana plant — cannabis — is a part of the plant … just as sap is part of a tree.”
The arguments in court about such things are not over. But while judges parse the meaning of words like “resin” and “cannabis” and so on, and while prosecutors like Montgomery and Polk pursue their “Reefer Madness” crusade, children and families could suffer.
The case is now headed to the Arizona Supreme Court.
The state — the people representing us — will argue that the wording in the medical-marijuana law somehow makes the leafy part of the plant, but
the leafy part, medically legal. Of that possibility, Kerry D’Ortenzio said, “It is devastating to think that Arizona would take a step backward in this. Our daughter used to have 20 seizures a day as an infant. We have tried nine anti-epileptic pharmaceuticals, each with different side effects and warnings, including blindness and liver failure. Finally, we started cannabis oil four years ago, and her life has been dramatically changed. Her seizures were reduced by 70 percent and her personality started to emerge. She is happier and healthier than she has ever been. And she is happy, smiling, giving and receiving love.”
I’m not sure that such a happy result is “evidence” the court will consider. But it should. Especially given the lunacy — and cruelty — of agreeing with the Appeals Court decision.
Or, as Reese’s mom put it, “The ruling says it’s okay for my 10-year-old to smoke a joint, but she cannot take the oil.”
“Not only has it made us talk about moving out of state, which would be devastating for our three other teenage daughters, but it has made me feel very alone. I know these activists are so laser-focused on ridding the world of marijuana that they are unable to see the positive effects it has on people who are dearly loved here in our state.” Kerry D’Ortenzio Reese’s mother