The LEAF THE LEAF May-June 17 | Page 6

They’d argued about that very thing earlier in the day. Haleigh’s behalf by Ride to Give, a cycling non- profit that benefits medically fragile children. Janea had read good things about a cannabis oil that reduced the frequency of convulsions for patients with seizure disorders. It was high in cannabidiol (CBD) and low in tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which means it doesn’t induce the psychoactive “high” most commonly associated with marijuana use. But Brian didn’t want them to leave Georgia. He didn’t want to place false hope in some Colorado weed scheme. And he didn’t want to take the chance of something happening to Haleigh while she was so far away from him. “But we had tried every other thing that every other doctor had ever suggested, and none of it had done anything at all,” Janea said. “After that night, it felt like it was our last resort.” Brian finally agreed…… That same night, Janea sent an email to State Rep. Allen Peake (R-Macon), pleading for him to help change the law in Georgia and legalise medical marijuana. Thus, began a “really lonely” period of life for Janea. It was just the two of them. If Haleigh didn’t sleep, neither did Janea. If Haleigh had a bad day, so did Janea. There was no relief from the care-giving duties. “Brian would come out for a week every month, then later it became more like once every two months because he couldn’t find the time to get off work,” she said. Other than those occasional visits, Brian’s daily phone calls were Janea’s only lifeline to an outside world. But soon the Colorado marijuana community came to embrace the Coxes, beginning with Jason Cranford, executive director of Flowering Hope Foundation. The organisation promotes accessibility to medical marijuana for those whom he believes benefit from it, including sufferers of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Crohn’s disease and cancer. “I answered her that very night to tell her I’d look into it,” Peake recalled. He did