The Leaf THE LEAF May-June 2019 | Page 8

In truth, this rarely has anything to do with a desire by patients to get high, but rather is motivated by the fact that cannabis often is of substantial benefit for a myriad of conditions where standard approaches have fallen dramatically short. Cannabis is actually among the most studied drugs of all time, largely as a result of US- sponsored research on its harms”. I will write more about the ins and outs of cannabis oil in another article, but for now, I will share with you one mother’s powerful story. One Family’s Story Many parents have reached out to me, sharing their stories of how cannabis oil has changed their lives, or their children’s. One, in particular, stood out for me. It’s important for this story to be heard. It raises awareness about a highly effective, natural medicine that’s denied to so many (often in favour of synthetic, pharmaceutical drugs that can have serious side effects). It also gives hope to those who feel they have no options, and no way out of their (or their children’s) emotional, mental, or physical health problems. Imagine yourself in this mother’s shoes, and think about how you might feel if your child was going through the very same thing. What would you do? Would You Give Your Suffering Child Cannabis Oil? When mainstream options don’t seem to be working, we tend to seek out alternative solutions. And usually, by this time, we’re already in a bad situation. I spoke to a mother in such a situation. She told me cannabis oil had significantly changed her family’s life for the better, in just four days. For the sake of protecting the family’s privacy (and to avoid yet another loving parent being arrested and charged), let’s call the mother Sophie, and the daughter Sarah. Like any typical 14 year old girl, Sarah’s emotions went up and down in rollercoaster fashion. She was okay one minute, then a hurricane of anger and misery the next. Assuming it was normal teenage behaviour, Sophie simply listened to her daughter in order for her to feel heard, and she supported her as well as she could – even taking her away for one-on-one time more often. As months went by, Sarah’s emotional state worsened, as did Sophie’s confidence as a parent. No matter what Sophie said, or how much she supported her daughter, it didn’t seem to make any difference. The first major warning sign was an anxiety attack in the doctor’s office. Sarah had been swinging between bouts of tears and laughter, and she admitted she hadn’t been taking food to school because she was too anxious to be seen eating. When anyone looked at Sarah, however innocently, as she walked into school, she became really anxious. She would leave her jumper on in class, even if she was hot, because she didn’t want to be seen taking it off. She wouldn’t blow her nose or cough, no matter how badly she needed to… and it didn’t end there. Her anxiety had infiltrated many aspects of her daily life. After hearing these shocking new revelations, Sophie did some research, and realised her daughter had severe social anxiety. Anything that attracted attention to Sarah triggered her anxiety. She had always excelled academically, and pushed herself to achieve perfect grades – mostly to avoid the attention and embarrassment that came with mistakes or poor results. She became obsessive about homework, yet increasingly procrastinated as her condition worsened, exploding with emotion when deadlines loomed.