Science & Technology

Families with Seizure-Prone Kids Relocating to Colo. for Pot Access

Though doctors warn the treatment is still unproven

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Parents are flocking to Colorado with their sick children to find "Charlotte's Web," a strain of marijuana thought to treat debilitating seizure disorders.

The strain was named for 5-year-old Charlotte Figi, who had been suffering from a rare disorder called Dravet's syndrome, which caused her to have as many as 300 grand mal seizures a week.

Charlotte used a wheelchair, went into repeated cardiac arrest and could barely speak, but doctors were out of ideas for help. Then as a last resort, her mother began calling medical marijuana shops.

Two years later, Charlotte is largely seizure-free and able to walk, talk and feed herself after taking oil infused with a special pot strain. Her recovery inspired the Charlotte's Web name for the marijuana strain she takes in oil form that is bred not to have THC—the ingredient that make users high.