THERE ARE CURRENTLY 11
CONDITIONS IN MINNESOTA THAT
QUALIFY PATIENT TO BE TREATED
WITH -- PATIENTS TO BE TREATED
WITH MEDICAL MARIJUANA.
AT A HEARING SOME FAMILIES
URGED THAT THAT MUST BE
EXPANDED TO INCLUDE CHILDREN
AND ADULTS WITH AUTISM.
JOINING US, TWO OF THE MOMS WHO
ARGUED JUST THAT, HEATHER TID
AND VICTORIA GRANT IS HERE.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR COMING
ON.
YES.
LET'S TART WITH -- START
WITH YOU, VICTORIA, WE HAVE A
DISTURBING SHOTS OF YOUR SON
JULIAN.
TELL US ABOUT WHAT IS GOING ON
IN THIS PICTURE.
SO ABOUT ONE YEAR AGO JULIAN
STARTED SELF-INJURING AND HE
WAS VERY AGGRESSIVE FOR A FEW
MONTHS PRIOR TO THAT.
JULIAN HAD ALWAYS BEEN A
SEVERELY AFFECTED CHILD WITH
AUTISM BUT HE HAD NEVER BEEN
VIOLENT OR AGGRESSIVE BEFORE,
AND I BELIEVE THAT SOMETHING
HAPPENED WHEN HE HIT PUBERTY
AND HE BEGAN SELF-HARM.
THAT'S AN IMAGE OF HIM
HAVING BEATEN HIMSELF?
YES, MA'AM.
HE QUALIFIED FOR MEDICAL
MARIJUANA, NOT BECAUSE OF THE
AUTISM BUT BECAUSE OF THE
SEIZURES.
WHAT HAPPENED WHEN YOU STARTED
GIVING HIM MEDICAL MARIJUANA?
WELL, WE HAD TRIED EVERY
PHARMACEUTICAL MEDICATION THAT
WAS OFFERED TO US AND NOTHING
STOPPED THE AGGRESSION OR THE
SELF-INJURY.
THE SEIZURES WERE STILL NOT
WELL MANAGED, AND IN JANUARY OF
--
THIS IS AFTER THE MEDICAL
MARIJUANA HERE, THESE ARE VERY
--
THIS IS RECENT, YEAH.
IN JANUARY WE WERE KIND OF AT
OUR WIT'S END.
WE KNEW THAT NOTHING ELSE WAS
GOING TO WORK AND IF WE DIDN'T
GET HIM CANNABIS THAT HE WOULD
PROBABLY KILL HIMSELF.
SO WITHIN SIX WEEKS OF HIM
BEGINNING MEDICAL CANNABIS, ALL
OF THE AGGRESSION AND SELF-
INJURY, EVERYTHING STOPPED AND
HE IS COMPLETELY OUT OF HIS
HELMETS, HE'S BACK TO SCHOOL.
HE'S NOT HARMING HIMSELF OR
ANYONE ELSE AND HE'S MADE A
FULL RECOVERY.
HE'S DOING AMAZING AND HIS
SEIZURES ARE WELL MANAGED.
RIGHT.
AND YOUR HUSBAND TESTIFIED THAT
HE ACTUALLY HAD TO WEAR BODY
ARMOR IN THE HOUSE.
YEAH.
HE HAD TO -- YOU HAD TO PUT
YOUR 11-YEAR-OLD GIRL, SHE HAD
TO STAY IN HER OWN ROOM FOR HER
SAFETY.
YES.
YOU GOT THE MEDICAL
MARIJUANA BECAUSE OF THE
SEIZURES?
YES.
BUT IT HELPED DRASTICALLY
WITH HIS AUTISM.
HEATHER, LET'S HEAR YOUR STORY
BECAUSE YOU HAVE FOUR KIDS.
LET'S TALK ABOUT T.J.
BECAUSE WE HAVE SOME DRAMATIC
IMAGES OF PICTURES OF WHAT
T.J., WHO HAS PTSD FROM BEING
IN A FOSTER HOME, WHAT HE
ACTUALLY DID, HE WAS SO
DESTRUCTIVE.
YEAH.
SO WE ADOPTED T.J.
NINE YEARS AGO AND HE DID HAVE
A PRETTY ROUGH START IN LIFE.
HE HAS PTSD AND HE WOULD --
HE WOULDTEAR APART YOUR
ROOMS.
WHEN HE WAS RAGING, WHEN HE
WAS HAVING THESE ISSUES, HE
WOULD TEAR APART A ROOM IN
ARREST A FEW MINUTES.
IT WAS A REAL FLIGHT OR FIGHT.
AND HE WOULD TRY TO KILL OTHER
PEOPLE, KILL HIMSELF, HE WOULD
KILL ANIMALS.
HE QUALIFIED UNDER THE
EXPANSION OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA
--
TOURETTE'S.
WHEN YOU GOT HIM MEDICAL
MARIJUANA, HOW MUCH DID THAT
HELP?
OVERNIGHT IT HELPED
IMMENSELY.
WE HAD AN 80% REDUCTION IN
TICKS IMMEDIATELY WITH THE
TOURETTE'S AND WE HAD GONE FROM
CALLING THE POLICE EVERY DAY TO
WE HAVE CALLED -- WE HAVEN'T
CALLED THEM SINCE JULY OF 2015.
YOU HAVE ANOTHER CHILD,
JACKSON, WHO HAS AUTISM.
WE HAVE GOT A PICTURE OF
JACKSON.
THAT'S ACTUALLY T.J., BUT WE
HAVE A PICTURE OF JACKSON.
I BELIEVE STANDING WITH
GOVERNOR MARK DAYTON.
YEP.
HE HAS AUTISM AND YOU WOULD
LIKE TO SEE -- YOU WOULD LIKE
HIM TO BE ABLE TO GET THIS.
YES.
I THINK WE HAVE SEEN HOW IT
AFFECTS CERTAIN BEHAVIORS IN
CHILDREN WITH AUTISM -- AND
CHILDREN WITH AUTISM HAVE A LOT
OF SIMILAR BEHAVIORS AS OUR SON
WITH PTSD DID AND WE KNOW IT'S
EFFECTIVE FOR THOSE BEHAVIORS
AND WE HAVE SEEN IT WITH OUR
FRIENDS AND WE BELIEVE 100%
IT'S GOING TO BE BENEFICIAL FOR
PEOPLE WITH AUTISM.
OKAY.
DR. ED ELLINER IS CONSIDERING
THIS.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO HIM IF HE
IS LISTENING TO BE ON THE
RECORD ABOUT IT.
I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK TO HIM
DIRECTLY AND TELLING HIM I AM
HAVING FAMILIES REACH OUT TO ME
ON A DAILY BASIS.
WE HAVE CHILDREN WE HAVE TO
KEEP AT HOME BECAUSE THEY CAN
BE SO DANGEROUS.
YOU CAN'T TAKE A CHILD LIKE
THAT IN PUBLIC SO THERE ARE SO
MANY CHILDREN IN OUR STATE THAT
ARE SUFFERING AND THEY ARE NOT
GETTING THE HELP THAT THEY
NEED.
THESE OTHER PHARMACEUTICAL
MEDICATIONS ARE NOT HELPING
THEM.
I HAVE PARENTS REACHING OUT TO
ME DAILY BEGGING FOR HELP.
THERE ARE SO MANY KIDS THAT
NEED THIS.
AND JUST QUICKLY, THE AUTISM
SOCIETY IS NOT COMPLETELY ON
BOARD WITH THIS.
I'VE GOT A STATEMENT FROM THEM
SAYING THAT THEY ARE STILL
REVIEWING THE RESEARCH.
QUICKLY YOUR THOUGHTS ON THAT.
I THINK THEY HAVE TO BE
CAREFUL.
THEY ARE A LARGE ORGANIZATION
AND THERE'S A LOT OF
RESPONSIBILITY.
THERE ARE NO GREAT TESTS SO FAR
IN THE U.S. BECAUSE IT'S NOT
FEDERALLY LEGAL.
SO THEY ARE JUST BEING SAFE,
BUT THE REALITY IS IT GIVES YOU
YOUR LIFE BACK AND IF THAT CAN
HELP EVEN A FEW PEOPLE, IT'S
WORTH IT.
WELL, LADIES, THANK YOU SO
MUCH FOR JOINING US, REALLY
EXTRAORDINARY THE KINDS OF WORK
THAT YOU HAVE TO DO ON A DAILY
BASIS.
I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO IT BUT,
OBVIOUSLY, YOU'RE CONTINUING
THIS --