3-Year-Old Given 8% Chance to Live Overcomes Cancer with Cannabis
Landon Riddle of Colorado is only 3 years old, but he is the center of a hotly contested debate regarding medical marijuana. He was recently given only a few weeks to live after reacting very badly to chemotherapy, but once his mother began to administer medical marijuana, even the chemo became unnecessary. The problem is that Landon didn’t live in a state where medical marijuana is legal to administer.
Landon has acute lymphocytic leukemia, or ALL, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Or should we say – HAD. It all started with a sore throat and swollen lymph nodes in 2012, but quickly progressed to a full stage cancer. Within weeks, Landon was flown to a hospital in Salt Lake City because his symptoms were progressing very rapidly.
“His whole chest was full of leukemia tumors, which is why he couldn’t breathe,” his mother says. “They started him on chemo, but told us that he probably wasn’t going to make it.” Landon’s mother was told he had an 8% chance of survival.
Landon was expected to be on chemotherapy treatments for FOUR YEARS, but after a few months he became extremely ill. This is when his mother turned to medical marijuana, though it wasn’t legal in Utah, through a suggestion made by Landon’s grandmother.
Landon’s mother did what any would do to save her son – she moved to Colorado. She rented a room, got Landon’s medical marijuana card, and began giving him marijuana — THC for the pain and nausea, and CBD for its own healing properties. The dose was based on Landon’s weight. He first took it in oil form, but now takes a pill.
She says that his red and white blood cell counts increased dramatically after only a few doses.
“It is atrocious that anyone on the planet would be charged for choosing cannabis over pharmaceuticals. My heart goes out to Adam Koessler and Rumor Rose, along with uncountable other families that are affected by cannabis prohibition. Get ready for the fight of your life. Having a sick child is a battle in itself, but making this choice is a whole new world. You’re going to need thick skin, intuition, and a solid team. Don’t waste time making sure every other pharmaceutical does more harm than good. If it feels wrong in your gut, it’s probably wrong,” she added.
Landon’s cancer is now in full remission.
A story of a child overcoming a serious illness is always good news. I am also a supporter of medical marijuana. From the evidence I have seen, it absolutely has medical benefits. However, this story is highly anecdotal. I worry that such miracle stories may give false hope to people, or worse may cause people to shun effective treatments. It’s irresponsible of the author to not point out that this story, which is a happy and feel good story, is not evidence of the effectiveness of marijuana to treat acute lymphocytic leukemia. Maybe marijuana can treat ALL, but that cannot be concluded based on this story.
Isn’t ‘medical marijuana’ just the individual states way of legalizing pot, but without admitting this?. Real medicine is prescribed by a doctor and has been through phase I-III trials
Marijuana is useful for treating chronic pain and can sometimes replace opiates, thereby acting as a harm reduction therapy. I am skepical of claims beyond this as, like you said, the evidence isn’t quiet there yet.
Yes it is….. Do your research
Care to cite some of the studies which prove all this?
The admin topk down the study citations… Nothing like big brother
James Peters that is not a good reply there is no trials Big pharma pushes drugs through without trials . Big pharmas drugs make the condition worse not better and the side effects terrible.
There are many cannabinoid based pharma companies conducting trials as we speak, like GW Pharma. No drug company intentionally makes drugs to make the condition worse, sadly however for some people then there are side-effects from the medication
Cannabis has been banned without the govts really knowing its benefits
It’s a crime that patients can’t stop by Wallgreens and pick up a prescription of medical marijuana.
Smoke daily lul