“The worst part about it is my husband’s a police officer, he’s a deputy sheriff. It’s a double-edged sword: We know the law, but at the same time, she’s suffering and it’s not always feasible to up and move to Colorado.”
Greene County, TN — The state’s immoral war on drugs has hit close to home for a Tennessee cop who wants to use cannabis oil to treat his daughter’s Infantile Spasms (IS).
IS or West Syndrome spasms consist of a sudden jerk followed by stiffening. The attacks, which can happen over 100 times a day, can be nightmarish. Often the arms are flung out as the knees are pulled up, and the body bends forward known as “jackknife seizures.” Babies with infantile spasms seem to stop developing and may lose skills that they had already mastered, such as sitting, rolling over, or babbling.
Young Josie Mathes, who turned one last month, suffers from IS. Luckily for the Mathes family, several scientific studies have shown that cannabis oil can be highly effective in treating IS.
However, there is one small problem — the Matheses could be kidnapped, locked in a cage and their daughter taken from them if they try to treat Josie’s IS with cannabis oil.
The state of Tennessee is a full-fledged backer of the idea that government force should be used to prevent people from ingesting a plant.
“The worst part about it is my husband’s a police officer, he’s a deputy sheriff. It’s a double-edged sword: We know the law, but at the same time, she’s suffering and it’s not always feasible to up and move to Colorado,” Stacie Mathes said in an interview with the Tennessean.
The state of Tennessee does, however, allow the family to use the dangerous pharmaceutical treatments for IS.
Unfortunately, of the two leading medications that Josie was prescribed, one didn’t work, and the other could potentially cause her to go blind. Sabril is the name of the leading drug prescribed to combat IS and is strongly associated with irreversible retinal damage in children with prolonged use.
“There’s not a lot of enjoyment here. Between the seizures and medications, she’s inhibited. I guess essentially she’s doped up. And that’s the hardest part,” Mathes said.
The cannabis oil that could potentially save Josie’s life contains less than 0.9 percent THC, and it is specially engineered for this type of treatment. But these facts fall on deaf ears of those responsible for turning the rusty bureaucratic cogs of the state.
Fortunately for Officer Logan Mathes, who very well could have thrown people in jail for possessing the very plant that could save his daughter, there is a voice of reason in the Tennessee government. Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, wants to change the law to make the oil immediately available to those in need.
Faison said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and state departments for health, safety and mental health have “given me verbal affirmation that they’re comfortable with this bill.” The Matheses have taken solace in the notion that they could soon give their daughter this life-saving treatment.
The fact that a police officer, who is tasked with enforcing the war on drugs, is questioning his overlords and fighting to legalize cannabis, is an enormous win for logic and reason.
Those who use marijuana recreationally and the families who want to treat their childrens’ illnesses are not criminals. The real criminals are those who would deprive a person of their freedom for taking a substance that can treat a disease or that makes them happy.
When police fear the police, it is high time for a change.
Not only does the drug war prevent children from receiving medicine and lock people up for victimless crimes, but it facilitates the violent police state.
The overwhelming majority of police brutality cases stem from the war on drugs. When so many people are tasked with finding and prosecuting those in possession of a substance deemed illegal, the interactions become more frequent and less cordial. If we end that, we get the state out of the private lives of most individuals. This will only serve to lessen the scope of police harassment, in turn reducing the instance of brutality and killings.
The Free Thought Project is currently planning a worldwide day of peaceful resistance to #End the Drug War.
We’ve seen the change that one good cop can effect, imagine 100.
The time for peaceful action is now. Share this article to show the power that one man has while just caring for his daughter.
