Parents Face Prison, Fine for Treating Their Son’s Seizures With Pot

The parents of a 15-year-old Georgia boy are facing charges after a therapist at the group home where the teen lived reportedly tipped off authorities to the fact that the parents had given their son cannabis in an effort to control his seizures.

Suzeanna and Matthew Brill spent 6 days in jail after giving their son, David, marijuana. The boy suffers from near-constant seizures.

The parents claim that marijuana kept David from having a seizure for 71 days, but the convulsions returned just hours after Twiggs County sheriff’s deputies knocked on the family’s door and ordered them to stop.

Suzeanna said:

“Within 14 hours of complying we were rushing our son to the hospital. And it was one of the most horrific seizures I’ve ever seen.”

David was taken into custody by the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services in April 2018 following an order from a juvenile court judge. Since being sent to a group home, the teen hasn’t seen his service dog and is only permitted to communicate with his parents through phone calls and short visits.

Without access to marijuana, he has continued to have seizures in the group home’s care. [2]

A month later, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill that adds PTSD and intractable pain to the state’s list of qualifying conditions under its medical marijuana law. Cannabis oil is available to cancer patients and people suffering from seizures, but growing, buying, and transporting marijuana is still prohibited. [1]

Read: Cannabidiol (CBD) Found to Help Rare Forms of Epilepsy

The problem, in the Brills’ case, is that they gave David marijuana to smoke, which is illegal in Georgia. [2]

Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum said:

“Marijuana is still illegal to possess or use in the state of Georgia. That includes allowing or giving it to children to ingest or smoke.” [1]

However, cannabis oil is next to impossible to access legally in Georgia. [2]

The couple began treating David with marijuana in February 2018, according to Steve Sadow, the Brills’ attorney, who is representing the case pro bono.

“That was the last ditch effort. They had tried all the medical treatments and pharmaceuticals recommended or prescribed.”

What Would You do to Save Your Child’s Life?

The Brill family decided to stop at nothing to help their son, and now they are facing time behind bars.

And, they say, they would do it again. [1]

Suzeanna said:

“Nothing else was working. I can’t have my kid dying because no one wants to listen.”

Sources:

[1] Fox News

[2] ABC News