UPDATE: On Wednesday, a judge in Jefferson City ruled to throw out some signatures. Medical marijuana supporters could appeal, but time is running out. Tuesday is the deadline to put the issue on November's ballot.
A Kansas City mom wants Missouri voters to legalize medical marijuana for patients who need it, like her son with severe epilepsy, but politicians are blocking it from going on November’s ballot.
“I’m very upset because these elected politicians are trying to stop something that we the people who put them in office are wanting,” Candace Baier said.
Prescriptions Don’t Work
Doctors diagnosed Baier’s 6-year-old son Harper Goldsby with Ohtahara Syndrome when he was born, and now he suffers from multiple seizure clusters every day.
“We’ve been on 25-plus medications and it’s progressive, so it does get worse as he gets older,” said Baier.
Signatures for Ballot
She wants voters to legalize medical marijuana so Harper can try cannabis oil which has worked for other children with severe epilepsy.
So Baier helped collect voter signatures for New Approach Missouri to put medical marijuana up for a vote in November’s election.
The deadline to put medical marijuana up for vote on November’s ballot is Tuesday, Sept. 27.
Politicians’ Lawsuit
The legal case began when the Missouri Secretary of State’s office went to court to dispute some of the signatures. Twelve prosecutors across the state joined the legal fight in August including Jean Peters Baker of Jackson County as well as Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Dan White and Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd.
A news release on the Jackson County Prosecutor’s website says in part: The prosecutors jointly filed a lawsuit to intervene in an ongoing legal action to block marijuana legalization from the November ballot. The prosecutors contend it would be unconstitutional to place it on the ballot because federal law currently makes marijuana an illegal controlled substance. Possession, manufacturing or distribution of it are a crime under federal law.
“That is obviously a silly argument because 25 other states have done exactly that, and we've had legal medical marijuana in some states for as long as 20 years now,” said Dan Viets, an attorney for medical marijuana.
Missouri Hemp Law
Missouri did pass a Hemp Extract Law in 2014 that allows a limited amount of cannabis oil, but only for some patients if they get permission from a neurologist.
“We can’t even try that because we can't even find a neurologist that will help,” said Baier about her 6-year-old son Harper.
Hospitals Won’t Help
Her son’s neurologists at Children’s Mercy Hospital refuse to give him cannabis oil. We asked why and Children’s Mercy gave us this statement:
“As one of the premier children’s hospitals in the country, we value the fact that the current epilepsy treatments we prescribe are proven safe and effective through numerous scientific clinical trials and rigorous evaluation. The use of hemp extract oil in the treatment of intractable seizures is not scientifically proven to be efficacious or safe in children or adults, and to date, there are no human studies that have found this treatment to have an effect on epilepsy. As we do with all of our patients, we will prescribe treatment based on the best available, safe and effective treatment for each unique patient case.”
Baier said other local hospitals have also refused to approve hemp oil or cannabis oil for her son.
“He deserves to try anything and everything to stay alive,” Baier said. “I feel that he deserves that chance. I think everybody does.”
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Patrick Fazio can be reached at patrick.fazio@kshb.com.
