You know marijuana laws are unjust when parents are jailed for six days and lose custody of a teenage son suffering from seizures. But that is exactly what happened to Matthew and Suzeanna Brill, a Georgia couple who gave their son cannabis to hele reduce his seizures. The medicine clearly worked. The law, in this case, clearly failed.
Before cannabis treatment, David, 15, was experiencing about 10 seizures a day. Frustrated by the red tape involved with Georgia’s medical marijuana program, the Brills were stuck between a rock and a hard place. They bought their cannabis illegally, but the smoked marijuana eliminated his seizures entirely. In fact, he went 71 days without suffering a debilitating seizure.
“I’m a father that did what it took to make sure my son was OK,” Matthew told CBS News. “For our son, it was a miracle for him,” he added.
But since the treatment did not conform to the state’s laws, David’s parents were charged with reckless conduct. Georgia’s medical marijuana program, like many in the South, are quite onerous for patients and their families. And there currently is a six-year waiting list to get a medical marijuana card, according to Suzeanna.
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Instead of waiting for their underage son to turn 21, the Brills took the proactive step of saving their son’s life. Six more years of 10 seizures a day would be nearly 22,oo0 more episodes and that was just not a solution for the family.
According to the CBS report:
[S]omeone alerted the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services. The couple said they spent six days in jail. On April 20, David was removed from the Brills’ custody. That day, he had a seizure and had to be rushed to a hospital.
“When I talked to him tonight… the 10-minute phone call I was allowed to have with him, he is on the verge of going into a seizure,” Suzeanna said.
David is currently living in a group home about 60 miles from his parents.
The Georgia Division of Family and Children services said in a statement, “Case managers continue to work with the parents…so the family can be restored as quickly as possible.”
The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services is with the Brills “so the family can be restored as quickly as possible.”
