YOUTH ON MARIJUANA PILLS NEEDS FEWER

The mother of the previously violent 8-year-old boy now using marijuana as a
medical aid to ameliorate his rages is sweet-voiced and articulate in a
telephone interview.

She emphasizes her son's use of cannabis, recommended by a physician, comes
after years of trial and failure of conventional psychotropic medications,
diet, holistic medicine, behavior modification and other therapies.

The mother, who is not being named for reasons of confidentiality, says she
was working at the Rocklin school district as a teacher's aide when students
in her class investigated the pros and cons of medical marijuana under
Proposition 215, the Compassionate Use Act, approved by state voters in
1996.

In helping her students do research, she "stumbled on the idea" of a way to
help her son.

"They knew he was in a residential home," she says. "Yeah," she quotes the
students, "You've got to do this."

The boy had failed at placement at a special education school for conduct
disorder and emotionally-disturbed children.

The mother quit her job in February 2001 and was being paid by Placer County
for taking care of her son, along with social service workers, around the
clock.

"By May 15, he was out of control. It was a horrible nightmare," she said.

"I'm not about breaking laws, I wanted to do the best for my child," she
said.

The boy was facing a lock-down type of psychiatric placement.

She consulted the director of Wo/Men's Alliance for Medical Marijuana and an
Oakland pediatrician who also had experience in the use of medical
marijuana. The doctor said, "What do you have to lose? It's far less toxic
than any medication," according to the mother.

She said her son is the first documented case study for children using
cannabis medicinally.

Initially, the boy ate portions of muffins that had been prepared with
marijuana. "Within half an hour, actually 35 minutes, of the first dose, it
was a miracle," she said. But the boy couldn't stand the taste, even when
dressed up with whipped cream or sprinkles or other treats. So the boy's
mother and grandmother began to pack his daily doses of marijuana in
capsules.

"Another pill was nothing," the mother says after the boy's history of
medication.

"We grind up the marijuana in a coffee grinder, sift it, put it on the
skillet for an hour with butter and water to cook it, then we spread it out
in a big lasagna type pan and bake it in the oven to dry it back out to a
powder so that we can put it into capsules," according to the mother's Web
site.

"Each pill contains 0.36 gram of marijuana," the mother said. Up until his
first anniversary on the medication, the boy took three of them in the
morning, two at 1 p.m. and three in the evening before bed, the mother said.
That's a total of 2.88 grams per day. There are 28.5 grams to an ounce.

"Now he's down to one capsule before bed," the mother said.

When the mother remarried and moved to El Dorado County, her son's new
school had to tell her they could not medicate the boy during the school
day. She had to drive 26 miles round trip to deliver the boy's capsules
which had to be administered off campus.

School staff did not meet the criteria to possess and dispense marijuana as
primary caregivers under Prop. 215. State law forbids dispensing medication
without a prescription. Physicians can only "recommend" marijuana -- not
formally prescribe it. And, of course, marijuana remains illegal under
federal law.

The Oakland physician who first recommended the marijuana comes to El Dorado
County to examine the boy. But the mother wants to find a local pediatrician
for regular medical checkups and emergencies.

The breakthrough day was May 21, 2001, a year ago. In the first six weeks,
the mother said, "He's sleeping, no violence, no different than a normal
kid." At 9 months old the child had "uncontrollable fits, rage, tantrums,"
the mother said. Later he was compulsive about food on his plate and his
mother had to have plastic dishes because the boy would destroy them.
Washing up could take from three to four hours. "He couldn't get them clean
enough," she said. In 1997 through 1998 the boy did not sleep more than two
hours a night, she said, keeping her awake to watch him as well. In 1999,
the boy had three separate admissions to a psychiatric hospital.

"The doctor said she sanctioned no more medications, because they did not
help him," the mother said.

She says the boy consistently hit, bit and kicked her.

A sadly typical story happened on Mother's Day, 1999.

"I had taken (the boy) to church right down the street. He was horrible. I
went to the grocery store because I wanted to bake something for myself and
I had to do a take-down in the store. The (shopping) cart went over and he
took a big chunk out of my hand," she said.

This year on Mother's Day, she said the boy was grounded, but just "for
8-year-old stuff, for sassing. There's no violence in our home."

The mother said her blended family is very supportive of the marijuana
treatment. "We all know some day it might quit working. We just live day to
day," she said. As far as marijuana's illegality under federal law she said
she would ask officials, "What would you do with him? He's living life. He's
not a drugged-out child. What would you do with him?"