INDIANAPOLIS — There’s a common reaction whenever Indiana Sen. Blake Doriot explains why he supports a bill to let a chemical in marijuana be used to treat epilepsy, ”Why aren’t we doing it?”
The freshman District 12 senator from New Paris said Monday. “When I explain what it’s for and what it does, it’s not ‘Yes,’ it’s ‘Why aren’t we doing it right now?'”
Senate Bill 15, which Doriot joined as coauthor after Sen. Jim Tomes introduced it Jan. 3, would establish a registry in Indiana for physicians and caregivers to use cannabidiol (CBD) in the treatment of a child with epilepsy. It will have its first hearing in committee at 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to our partners at The Elkhart Truth.
CBD is a nonpsychoactive chemical in marijuana, different from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which studies have shown can act as an anticonvulsant. Doriot cited one of the largest studies, by the Epilepsy Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which saw a 25 percent reduction in the frequency of seizures for 68 percent of patients after one month of treatment with CBD oil.
When he hears about results like that he thinks not only of his own son — who experienced epilepsy in kindergarten, but responded well to treatment — but also of a friend’s son who has a severe form of the illness called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. Even taking as many as six medications at max dose, he still experiences a dozen seizures a day, which makes learning impossible, Doriot said.
“We were lucky. Other families were not so lucky,” he remarked.
Tomes introduced a similar law last year that failed, but Doriot has high hopes this time because of the number of people, including doctors and those in law enforcement, who support it. Doriot noted the bill has support from Indiana sheriffs, including Elkhart County Sheriff Brad Rogers and Daviess County Sheriff Jerry Harbstreit, who will testify in the Statehouse on behalf of the law.
Doriot acknowledged there’s still a stigma to overcome because of the more notorious chemical in marijuana, THC, but he stressed that “this is not a THC bill. I’m not moving torward any use of THC in this bill.”
Rogers expressed a similar view, remarking in a Jan. 14 statement in support of the bill that THC is not involved in the epilepsy treatment.
MEDICAL MARIJUANA?
Indiana is now in a minority of states that prohibit all forms of medical marijuana. Veterans have proven to be the leading advocates for changing that this year, with the Indiana American Legion supporting the national American Legion’s stance in favor of private production and research. A Denver, Ind., veteran, Jeff Staker, has emerged as an outspoken advocate.
One House bill and an identical Senate bill introduced this year would establish a medical marijuana program, while another would decriminalize it for people who have an out-of-state prescription.
Doriot said he’s open to hearing the pros and cons from medical professionals, law enforcement and the people he represents when it comes to the wider issue of medical marijuana.
