Parents File Suit to Allow Son to Take Marijuana Extract

Nov 1, 2013 — -- The parents of a boy suffering from severe seizures have filed a lawsuit against the state of Arizona to ensure that their son will have access to medicinal cannabis oil without the risk of prosecution.

Zander Welton, 5, was born with cortical dysplasia, a genetic defect that disrupts cellular patterns in the brain and is often the cause of epilepsy. Zander is non-verbal and suffered seizures daily before his parents started giving him cannabis oil.

Although Arizona allows marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, some state officials, including the attorney for Maricopa County, where Zander Welton and his family live, and the head of the Arizona Department of Health Services have said that products with resin extracted from marijuana, such as the oil originally used to treat Zander, are actually classified as an illegal narcotic according to the state's criminal code.

On Monday, Zander's parents, Jennifer and Jacob Welton, working with the ACLU, filed a lawsuit that would protect the use of marijuana extracts or products with marijuana resin for medicinal purposes.

"When Arizona's voters said yes to legalizing medical marijuana for seriously ill patients in 2010, they certainly meant the plant as well as extracts from the plant," said Emma Andersson, an ACLU lawyer working with the Weltons. "After seeing not one but two brain surgeries fail to help their son, Zander's parents finally found an effective treatment in a medical marijuana extract?they don't deserve to be scared off from the best medicine available for Zander."

The lawsuit names the defendants as Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, Maricopa County Attorney William Montgomery, the Arizona Department of Health Services, and the director of the Arizona Department of Health Services William Humble.

Spokespeople for Bill Montgomery, the Maricopa County Attorney, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona Department of Health services said they had no comment on the pending lawsuit.

For the Weltons, the lawsuit is a way to both effectively help their son and allow them to remain in their home state of Arizona.

Medical Marijuana for 7-Year-Old Sparks Controversy

Jennifer Welton said they turned to medicinal marijuana as a last resort even though its effectiveness has only been proven anecdotally and not yet clinically.

Prior to the treatment, the 5-year-old had received many other kinds of medication and had undergone two brain surgeries in an effort to alleviate the severity of his seizures. Doctors had removed part of his hippocampus and his left temporal lobe, but his seizures persisted. According to the Weltons, Zander's doctor said their final option to alleviate his seizures was to remove the left hemisphere of his brain. The procedure could have left him paralyzed or in a vegetative state, so they decided to try the cannabis oil option first.

Zander was put on cannabidiol oil, or CBD, in September after he qualified for a medical marijuana card. There are approximately 40 minors in Arizona who qualify for a medical marijuana card.

According to court documents, the Weltons noticed an improvement in Zander's symptoms after being treated with medical marijuana. Welton confirmed that after treatment Zander no longer had 8- to 10-minute seizures daily that would cause him to stop breathing and turn blue. Instead, in the seven weeks since Zander had been taking medicinal marijuana, Welton said he had only two seizures and each only lasted a few minutes and he didn't stop breathing.

In addition, Zander has been able to communicate more and has started to shake his head signifying when he doesn't like something.