Family credits rare medical marijuana with helping epileptic son

A California family says a rare type of medical marijuana has helped control their 7-year-old son’s severe epilepsy, Fox 40 reported.

Jayden David suffers from a debilitating form of epilepsy, which causes him to experience frequent seizures – some lasting up to 90 minutes. Until recently, Jayden took up to 20 types of medication every day in an attempt to control his condition.

However, when Jayden’s father, Jason David, discovered cannabidiol (CBD), a rare type of non-psychotic medical marijuana, he said it changed the young boy’s life.

David said the CBD, which he administers to his son in liquid form, has improved Jayden’s condition dramatically, reducing the number of seizures he suffers and allowing him to cut back on his medications.

“Jayden’s seizures are down approximately 80 percent. Jayden is functioning now,” David, of Modesto, Calif., told Fox 40. “The doctors told me Jayden would never walk or talk.”

However, the family says the drug is difficult to obtain – especially since the one pharmacy dispensing it in Modesto was shut down.

On Tuesday, David plans to appeal to the town’s city council to make it easier for his family to obtain CBD.

“It is a life and death situation for our children. We are parents, not pot heads. I consider myself a caregiver. I should not have to feel like a criminal,” David said.

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