Cannabis may Help Prevent Seizures in Children with Severe Epilepsy

For children suffering from severe epilepsy, a recent study shows that cannabis may be able to prevent the onset of seizures. However, health professionals caution against this treatment as it may be too soon to determine its safety and effectiveness.

Some parents who have dealt with this health issue through a son or daughter have used the drug along with an anti-seizure medication to lower seizure-risk. For 19 parents who gave CBD-enriched cannabis to their children to treat severe epilepsy, over half said their child's seizure frequency dropped by at least 80 percent after starting the drug, according to Live Science.

However, many remain skeptical about study results invovling cannabis. According to anectodal reports, they "can give a potential signal of efficacy and safety, but doctors, patients and parents are all biased," Dr. Maria Roberta Cilio, director of pediatric epilepsy research at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote in a commentary accompanying the new report in the journal Epilepsia. "Rigorous investigation of the safety and efficacy of medical marijuana or individual components such as CBD are necessary for patients with epilepsy before any conclusion is made."

At this time, doctors in Illinois are working to legalize medicinal marijuana use for epileptic children. On Wednesday, the house voted 98-19 in favor of a bill that will permit children under the age of 18 to take a derivative of medical cannabis as a treatment option in some cases. Children would not be allowed to smoke the drug.

The bill was sponsored by Democratic Representative Lou Lang, but is still waiting for changes from the Department of Health.

"We're giving them [the Department of Public Health] a lot of leeway to decide...what conditions this product could be used for, setting it up with the rulemakers and not just specifying that it's only for epilepsy-which we know it helps epilepsy," Representative Jeanne Ives, R-Wheaton said, via The Chicago Sun-Times. "They're going to have a lot of leeway here."

As the concentration of CBD and THC in the drug varies widely, many believe that more studies will be needed in order to further determine the safety of the drug, along with any interactions from other medications.