GAINESVILLE, FL – Dr. Paul Carney and his team at the University of Florida just got the green light from the state to study the effects of a cannabis oil derived from marijuana to see how that affects and helps children living with epilepsy.
“It’s exciting,” said Dr. Carney, the UF Health Pediatric Neurologist who is leading the research. “The whole community is extremely excited about this.”
Dr. Carney said the project is intended to treat 50 children living with epilepsy from across Florida, who have tried all their epilepsy treatment options.
He said, “They’re having frequent seizures. Many are having hundreds of seizures a week.”
They want to use a compound called Epidiolex which Dr. Carney said the Food and Drug Administration is investigating. He said the drug a derivative of marijuana. It’s non-euphoric, and ultra-low THC, according to Dr. Carney, which means it won’t make you high.
The Florida Department of Health recently approved $1 Million to the university for this study.
“It’s a drug,” Dr. Carney explained. “It’ll come to the university, to our pharmacy, under controlled conditions just like any other medication that you might take, like an antibiotic. It’ll be dispensed by the pharmacist to the parents.”
He said parents would come back at regular intervals and the team would see how the children are doing. Every single step of the 3-year study will be meticulously tracked.
It should be noted, according to Dr. Carney, this research has nothing to do with the Charlotte’s Web medical marijuana strain that was recently legalized. Dr. Carney said he hopes the drug will have an added benefit.
“We hope that as we treat their seizures, we’ll see a positive impact on their autism,” He explained. “How they behave. How they interact.”
Ultimately, Dr. Carney said he and everyone involved passionately wants to help the children.
He explained, “I would ultimately like to cure their epilepsy, and I will look for any strategy that’s safe and will accomplish that goal.”
Dr. Carney said that study will begin later this summer. He said if you are a parent and you want your child to participate in the study, talk to your doctor.
(University of Florida Begins Cannabis Oil Study for Children’s Epilepsy – Weed Finder™ News | Article Credit: By David Williams, Digital Journalist)