As a wholistic pediatrician, I have used medicinal herbs to treat variety of childhood ailments for more than 20 years. Back in 1997, if you would have suggested I would be ordering medical cannabis for children in 2017, I probably would have smiled and asked, “What have you been smoking?”
Back in college I wrote my first paper on why cannabis should be a legal product, available for medical use. For years I have followed the scientific studies, mostly from Israel, about the potential medical benefits observed using cannabis. The New England Journal of Medicine recently published the first American study that shows significant reductions in seizures in children with medication-resistant epilepsy. (http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/health/cannabidiol-epilepsy-study/). Interestingly, the pharmaceutical version of cannabidiol (CBD) used in this study appears to produce more reported side effects than what I have observed in the Florida children I have been treating with products from state-approved cannabis dispensaries.
Although many of my pediatric colleagues have trepidation about treating children with herbs, I have been treating children with herbs for more than 20 years. To me medical cannabis is simply another herb. Since I began treating patients with it, I have seen more impressive improvements with medical cannabis than with any herb I have previously used.
For example:
- Some pediatric patients I treat with medical cannabis therapy are now completely seizure-free, and the majority of others have had a reduction in the occurrence and severity of their seizures.
- Cancer patients treated with medical cannabis are better able to tolerate their chemotherapy.
- Parents of children with autism have reported that since their child started on medical cannabis, tantrums and violent outbursts have stopped, and the children are less anxious with fewer panic attacks.
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) patients are living peaceful lives for the first time in years.
- Teens with medication-resistant migraines are now able to participate in educational, social, artistic, and athletic activities.
Hopefully other pediatricians will catch on to the fact that cannabinoids are helping many children who are otherwise being treated with medications that have significant side effects, often in combination, and symptoms are still not controlled to a satisfactory level.
Wholistic Pediatric and Family Care and Family Medical Cannabis Clinic are one of the first facilities offering medical marijuana as a treatment option. If you would like to find out if you qualify for medical marijuana, please click here to get started.
