Throughout the last week, the national media has focused on Oregon’s youngest “medical” marijuana patient- 7 year old Mykayla Comstock. Mykayla is one of the registered medi-pot users under the age of 18.

 

There are important questions that must be asked! How appropriate is it to give one gram of cannabis oil extract to a 7 year old? Is it safe to give marijuana to a child whose brain is still developing? As Dr. Leslie Walker, an expert in adolescent medicine at Seattle Children’s Hospital, points out, “there are studies that look at 15 year olds who use marijuana during that time and they lost IQ points. They had brain damage that was not recovered when they stopped using.” 

 

Mykayla’s biological father, who does not have custody, was so concerned that he contacted child welfare officials, police and his daughter’s oncologist, stating Mykayla “was stoned out of her mind” when visiting him. However, because Oregon’s “medical” marijuana law allows children to use marijuana under parental consent (which Mykayla has from her mother), law enforcement has no power to stop Mykayla’s use of marijuana as a so-called medicine. 

 

Most parents would stop at nothing to help their children through illness, however, is it wise to give a 7 year old a substance that is addictive and harmful to her developing brain and that lacks medical efficacy? 

 

For more on this story, go to: http://www.katu.com/news/local/Mom-gives-7-year-old-medical-pot-to-help-ease-chemo-side-effects-181087701.html?tab=video&c=y