Running Head: CBD, WILL IT BE HELPFUL OR HURTFUL? 1
CBD, Will it be Helpful or Hurtful?
Jay Hundstad
GEN 123/ Grace Bible College
Professor Rhonda Keith
May 16, 2016

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Let me ask you something. If you knew that your child was dying and there was nothing
physicians could do to help, how would you feel? Your child was going to die a slow, agonizing,
painful death; there was no doctor that could help. What would you be willing to do? Do you
think you could bring yourself to break the laws, which may end up with you going to prison?
Charlotte Figi’s family faced this situation. They desperately wanted to help their
daughter, because the physicians said that there was nothing else they could do for her.
Charlotte’s seizures would eventually kill her. They reached out to a cannabis producer in
Colorado for a radical solution.
A strain of low THC marijuana, which has since been named Charlotte’s Web, was used
to derive cannabinoid oil to use for treatment on Charlotte. The results have been more than
anyone could have expected. So, CBD, Will it be Helpful or Hurtful? I believe it will help
many people.
During an interview with CNN (Young, 2013), Matt and Paige Fiji of Colorado discussed
the progression of their daughter’s seizures. The Figis had twins born in 2006, Charlotte and
Chase. Within three months, Charlotte had her first seizure which lasted over 30 minutes. The
parents rushed her to the hospital and after all the testing was done, they had no answers as to the
cause of the seizures.
The seizures continued to worsen, sometimes lasting 2-4 hours each. The Figis took
Charlotte to doctors at Children’s Hospital in Denver; however, the doctors were unable to
provide a cause. The worst case scenario would be Dravet Syndrome. According to the CNN
article, “Dravet Syndrome is a rare, severe form of intractable epilepsy. Intractable means the
seizures are not controlled by medication. The first seizures with Dravet Syndrome usually start
before the age of 1.” (Young, 2013)

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Dravet Syndrome is defined by National Organization of Rare Diseases, or NORD,
(2015) “Dravet syndrome spectrum disorders are rare genetic epileptic encephalopathies
(dysfunction of the brain) with onset during the first year of life in an otherwise healthy infant.
There is a spectrum of severity ranging from no clinical symptoms, to simple febrile seizures,
and extending to Dravet syndrome, which is the most severe.”
Charlotte’s physicians tried a specialized diet for her that limited carbohydrates that
helped control the seizures, but caused additional issues with her immune system. The seizures
came back within a short time. They tried a specialist in Chicago; there was no hope.
Charlotte’s father, Matt, had done research and found possible treatments, including
medical marijuana. However, in order for this option, the Figis needed to find two doctors who
would agree to prescribe this for their daughter. Medical marijuana was legalized in Colorado in
2000, but for treatment of seizures, the average age of the patient was 42. Charlotte was six.
Paige was against using any type of marijuana or a derivative for her daughter. Then, Charlotte’s
physicians told the parents that there was nothing else they could do. Medication was not
helping and eventually, the increasing seizures would kill her.
Desperate, Paige put aside her misgivings and they found doctors willing to try a low
tetra-hydro cannabinol, THC strain of marijuana. Because of her age, they determined that CBD
oil would be a better option. CBD oil can be extracted from either marijuana or hemp. In some
strains of marijuana, THC levels are lower and the CBD properties higher. The Stanley Brothers
had just such a strain of marijuana and had found no use for it at that time.
Charlotte’s seizures were steadily getting worse and her development stalled, when the
CBD oil was finally available for her to use. The results were a God-send. Charlotte’s seizures,

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which had been numbered in the 100s each week were all but stopped. The first treatment began
a reversal of Dravet Syndrome.
Charlotte was finally able to begin moving, talking and playing. For months, the only
sound her parents had heard her make was crying. The Figis declared the treatment a miracle.
Below, a photo showing Charlotte before the CBD oil and after treatment. It is difficult to
believe that the same child is shown.

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Researching the above story, I found another similar case,a child named Jayden David. Jason
David was desperately searching for a way to help his son. A video shows the intensity and pain of
the seizures at http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/10/health/medical-marijuana-child/. (Lah, 2012)
Before Jayden started on the CBD oil, he could not walk, eat solid food or take a bath.
He has Dravet's syndrome, too. Jayden took 22 anti-seizure pills a day to control the
seizures; however, the pills left him immobilized due to the side effects.
Jason said, "You can't help him no matter what. What are you supposed to do? You have
to do whatever it takes to save their life." (Lah, 2012)
Jason was exhausted by the ongoing suffering and pain endured by his son. He agreed to
try a low THC form of CBD oil made from medical marijuana. After the first usage, Jayden was
seizure free for the first time since he was an infant of four months old.
Jason obtained the CBD oil from Harborside Health Center in Oakland. Harborside no
longer supplies all of the CBD oil, they do still test it prior Jayden’s use. Harborside helps many
child patients with similar medical issues. Parents who make the decision to try CBD are usually

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at the last resort. "Parents don't want to bring their children to something controversial like
cannabis," says Harborside's executive director, Steven DeAngelo. (Lah, 2012) "They do it
reluctantly, and they do it because they're at their wit's end."
These children are not getting high. The oils used are low in THC, the substance that
causes euphoria or “high” in most marijuana. At this time, medical marijuana is legal in 18
states, with 16 states contemplating changes in their current laws.
Because marijuana is illegal at the federal level, no official testing has been done at this
time. The status is about to change. The University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, is
conducting a study of patients currently using Charlotte’s Web (CNN, 2015). Specifically, a
study of the genes in each person because not all users have the same results. Edward Maa, will
head the study on how and why medical marijuana can be used to treat epilepsy. “This is the first
attempt to get the information people are interested in that is observational in nature,” says Maa,
an assistant professor at the CU School of Medicine and chief of the Comprehensive Epilepsy
Programs at Denver Health.

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I believe that this study will help bring change to the opinion of the public and the Drug
Enforcement Agency, who currently have marijuana scheduled as a Class I drug. With this
classification, studies on the potential uses of CBD oil are severely limited. The DEA defines
Schedule I as follows:
“Schedule I
Schedule I drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with no currently
accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous
drugs of all the drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or physical dependence.
Some examples of Schedule I drugs are: heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), marijuana
(cannabis), 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy), methaqualone, and peyote.”
I have read articles from the DEA and they state that marijuana is a gateway drug and at
the same time they are saying that marijuana is not a medication. I believe them classifying
marijuana as a drug is the same thing that pharmaceutical companies do in order to classify a pill
as medication, they call the pills drugs. Isn’t CBD oil a medication by that standard?
I believe that God gave us marijuana, which is where we get CBD oil. In Genesis 1:29-
30, it tells us that God gave us all the animals and plants of the earth for us as food. In reading
about Charlotte & Jayden, I found evidence that supports the use of CBD oil for treatment.
These kids and others now have a life with more promise than what they faced originally. I think
the best part of the whole story about the Figi family is how the company has named the plant
strain Charlotte’s Web.

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References
Drug Enforcement Agency, (nd) Retrieved on May 15, 2015 from
http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ds.shtml
Lah, K. (2012) Retrieved on May 14, 2016 from
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/10/health/medical-marijuana-child/
NORD, (2015) Retrieved on May 15, 2016 from http://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/dravet-
syndrome-spectrum/
Photo of Charlotte, (nd), Retrieved on May 15, 2016 from
http://www.haleyismyhero.com/virginiacannabisefforts.htm
Photo of Charlotte, (n,d,), http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/amyrose-lane/health-insurance-
medical-marijuana_b_8592586.html
Photo of Jayden, (n.d.) http://theleafonline.com/c/politics/2014/11/interview-cbd-expert-jason-
david-weed-wars/
Pickert, K. (2015), Retrieved on 5/16/2016 from http://time.com/3264691/medical-marijauna-
epilepsy-research-charlottes-web-study/
Young, S. (2013) Retrieved on May 7, 2016 from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/07/health/charlotte-child-medical-marijuana
Thesis Statement: CBD, will it be helpful or hurtful? I believe it will be a blessing.

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I. Introduction
A. Thesis Statement
B. Propose a dilemma
1. Sick child
2. No help available
3. Other Options
II. Body
A. Charlotte’s story
1. Overview
a. History of illness
b. Doctor’s give up
c. Radical options
2. Photos before/after
B. Jaden’s Story
1. Overview
2. Radical options
3. Photo after
C. Legal issues
1. What is CBD?
a. Where does it come from?
b. What does it do?
c. Where does THC come into it?
2. States available
a. Current standing on CBD oil
b. How derived
i. Sources
ii. THC levels
iii. CBD levels
c. Category of CBD oil
iv. Hemp vs. Marijuana
3. DEA opinion
a. Gateway drug
b. Not medicine

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III. Conclusion
A. Recap
B. State opinion
IV. References