FAMILIES ON THE FRONTLINES

“THE GOVERNMENT HAVE CHANGED THE LAW. THEY’VE PUT THE PROBLEM SQUARELY AT DOCTOR’S DOORS NOW AND THEY’RE SAYING IT’S UP TO THEM TO PRESCRIBE IF THEY WANT TO.”
-HANNAH DEACON

Few people are more deserving of recognition than parents who advocate for medical cannabis use for their children. To do so requires a strong resolve, an iron will, and they must be driven by a fierce, unwavering desire to help their children through any means necessary. These aren’t people advocating for recreational use, small business support or better banking access—which are all worthy causes to fight for—but instead, their fight is rooted in the challenge of expanding medical cannabis access.

In the US, many states have enacted laws to support medical cannabis access in schools and for children who suffer a variety of medical conditions (depending on the state, of course). Children such as Charlotte Figi, who sadly passed away in 2020, became a prime representation of the effectiveness of medical cannabis, having appeared in a CNN documentary WEED in 2013 that turned medical cannabis into a national topic. Now countless parents look to Charlotte’s example, and have even been dubbed “marijuana refugees” as some of them moved from other states to cannabis-friendly regions, like Charlotte’s home state of Colorado, toward the promise of improved quality of life for their kids.

Much of this is prevalent in the US. However, across the pond, the situation is still evolving. Medical cannabis programs in many European countries are a work in progress, with continuing issues with access, both for children and adults. High Times spoke with three European parents who have first-hand experience with advocating for cannabis access for their kids, and the many challenges they have overcome in order to obtain medicine: Karen Gray and her son Murray from Scotland, Hannah Deacon and her son Alfie Dingley from England and Vera Twomey and her daughter Ava from Ireland.