Medical Marijuana Coming Through in Australia

Jai Whitelaw was only ten-years-old when he took his first medical marijuana, which was given to him by his mom to stop him from having over five-hundred seizures per day. Give the stark decision of denying the law so that her son’s agony would end, or keep him in pain; Michelle Whitelaw decided no more.

“I literally sat on (the) couch for two days, thinking ‘Do I end his life and mine? Or do I risk helping him’,” she reported.

She ended up helping, knowing she was breaking the law. Two years later, she isn’t going to have to make such a decision since Australian is beginning to slowly but surely legalize medical marijuana.

“If it didn’t work, I wouldn’t be here, and Jai wouldn’t be here,” Whitelaw stated at a celebration of cannabis in Nimbin.

At his worst, Jai needed to be revived, and could not perform basic activities at school or even play outside since the side-effects of medications restricted him. A little over a year of medical marijuana, and he has only had four seizures.  He was finally able to lead a normal life.

The change in mindset is great for Aboriginal Australian Tony Bower, who has given marijuana in different forms to parents with debilitating conditions after learning how to make medicine from the plant that does not make people high.

“You can’t refuse people. I’m an indigenous Australian; it’s not in our culture,” Bower said as he continued to give medical marijuana to families, despite the risks.

Nearly a hundred and fifty kids are normal patients of Bower, and his medicine is going to be supplied to many more people since Anthony Coffey’s Australian Organic Therapeutic firm bought the rights to it. It is going to be sold at Aus$60 (US$44) per person monthly.