(WA) Dad fights to keep growing pot to ease son’s seizures

[Jesus Malverde]

Haiden Day, 5, has a severe form of epilepsy. His parents found that non-psychoactive chemicals in marijuana seem to calm his seizures. But proposed changes in the state medical-marijuana law would make treatment impractical, maybe impossible for Haiden, they say

But he has started lobbying against a proposed clampdown on the state’s medical-marijuana system.

Aimed at reconciling the largely unregulated medical system with the state’s new highly regulated recreational system, the proposals include a ban on home growing. They would also reduce the amount of marijuana patients can possess, and eliminate dispensaries, steering patients instead into new recreational retail stores.

Day argues that he needs to grow his son’s marijuana because it would be prohibitively expensive to buy. He needs more for a ready supply than the proposals from three state agencies would allow. And he has little confidence that new retail stores — geared to serve recreational users looking for a good buzz — would stock a reliable supply of the rare strains his son needs. Haiden’s medicinal pot has no or little THC, the key psychoactive chemical in most pot, and it has a high percentage of cannabidiol or CBD, a chemical believed to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-anxiety properties.

Day knows that lawmakers are skeptical of the medical system and some believe most patients are gaming the system. “You know what my angle is? I don’t want my son to die,” Day said.

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Day has several problems with the dramatic changes recommended for medical-marijuana by state officials last month, starting with the proposed ban on home-growing and collective gardens, a way for patients to pool their growing ability.

“If there is no home growing and no collective gardens where people can chip in, most parents are priced out of this,” he said.

The proposed cut in patients’ 60-day supply from 24 ounces to three ounces also troubles him. Day notes that for every pound Haiden gains his dosage needs to increase. “If my son was twice as heavy he’d need two ounces a week. That’s the entire take-home pay for some people,” he said.

Day also opposes the shift of medical patients to state-regulated recreational pot stores, scheduled to open by next summer.

“You’re going to have a recreational market much larger than the medical market with cash to burn,” Day said. “It’s quite possible patients won’t be able to find what they need and if they can, they may not be able to afford it.”