Parents in world of children’s cannabis fear, desire regulations

By Jason Henry
Elizabeth Aquino’s blood boils when she thinks about the politics behind medical marijuana.

Her epileptic daughter Sophie’s seizures significantly decreased using an oil extracted from cannabis, but the Los Angeles mother fumes thinking about the childhood her 19-year-old and her two teenage sons may have lived if she received access earlier.
“Here I can go to the drug store and get a prescription for the most powerful narcotics on the planet, but I couldn’t get this relatively benign substance for her, not because of scientific evidence, but because of politics,” she said.

Though California led the way for medical marijuana reforms sweeping the country, state and federal laws still hurt the people turning to marijuana for severe conditions. Parents, like Aquino, face seedy dispensaries, a lack of regulation and products containing harmful chemicals.
Aquino is part of a growing community of parents in California using altered strains of marijuana to treat their child’s ailments, from seizures to cancer and multiple sclerosismultiple sclerosis.
Dr. Bonni Goldstein, medical director for marijuana advocacy organization Ghost Group, sees many roadblocks to the patients she recommends cannabis for.

“In California, there is very poor regulation when it comes to who provides the medicine and how much medicine they can grow and produce,” she said. “There are rules in place, but yet to me, they’re not sufficient, nor do they take into account sick patients.”
The oil Aquino’s daughter uses contains a high amount of a compound called cannabidiol, or CBD, but low amounts of THC. It does not cause a high.
Realm of Caring California’s director Ray Mirzabegian said he has 500 people on his wait list for the CBD oil Sophie uses, but state regulations limit how many plants he can grow in one location, forcing him to set up expensive growing operations around the state.

Mirzabegian recently encountered another regulation when his resource center in North Hills was shut down by Los Angeles. Mirzabegian said his center got lumped in with dispensaries because it relates to marijuana, despite not selling anything on site. Cities across the state have banned or limited dispensaries under a court ruling that left the decision up to local governments.
“There’s a big battle going on in California right now and I’m stuck in the middle of it,” he said. “I got the license because there is no other license to get.”

Not only is finding the right dispensary hard, but often parents have no idea if the product is even safe.
When parent Nazy Nouri found a different type of CBD vial at a dispensary, she got it tested at a laboratory. The test revealed someone at the dispensary gave her the wrong bottle.
“How do I know if it is clean? How do I know if there are no pesticides?” Goldstein said. “They’re getting the medicine and they’re going to have to pay to get the medicine tested to make sure it is something safe for their child. That is like going to CVS, picking up antibiotics and having it tested before you give it to your child.”

Jeffrey Raber, a chemist, operates The Werc Shop, a laboratory that tests marijuana for dispensaries and consumers in Los Angeles County.
About 25 percent of the strains Raber tests contain mold or bacteria and roughly 10 percent contain pesticide residue.
“There has been no safety oversight in California,” Raber said. “They haven’t evolved or learned from their past experiences. There has been no adjustment, there has been no upgrading. There has been no correction to all of these glaring holes in the system.”

California should incorporate Colorado’s marijuana quality standards and require testing and proper labeling before a product reaches a dispensary’s shelf, he said.
“I’ve talked to enough operators the dispensary level, that until they’re required by law to do it, they’re not going to do it,” he said.
Proposed legislation backed by the California Police Association and the League of California Cities could require uniform health and safety standards for medical marijuana, including prohibitions on the use of non-organic pesticides.

S.B. 1262, as proposed by state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana, would increase regulations across the board, particularly when it comes to children. Only California Medical Board certified pediatricians could approve marijuana for minors.

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