Epileptic Toddler's Family Moves To Colo.

It was always expected that legalizing marijuana would bring tourist revenue to Colorado and Washington, but now, it’s actually bringing new residents. A New Jersey couple whose two-year-old daughter has a rare form of epilepsy is moving to Colorado in order to gain access to weed, because none of the New Jersey’s medical dispensaries carry the strain that their daughter needs. Colorado, on the other hand, has a dispensary devoted to that strain, and so Brian and Meghan Wilson are moving across the country so they can access it on a regular basis.

The Wilsons had previously lobbied New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to allow edible marijuana in the state’s medical dispensaries, as it’s generally frowned upon for parents to give joints to their sick children. Christie relented, but none of the state’s dispensaries actually sell marijuana in edible form, so it still isn’t available in New Jersey. A bill was proposed that would allow marijuana patients to take edible marijuana into New Jersey from other states, but Christie threatened to veto it. At that point, the Wilsons had enough.

"I’m not angry," said Meghan Wilson as she prepared for her flight at Newark Liberty International Airport. "I’m just ready to start the next chapter. If we get medicine that helps Vivi, that’s great. Who the hell cares we had to move?"

The strain is called “Charlotte’s Web,” and like a lot of medical marijuana, it’s low in THC but high in CBD, a less psychoactive element with numerous therapeutic properties. Charlotte's Web has been referred to as a “miracle strain” due to its incredible efficacy in treating child epilepsy patients:

The so-called “Charlotte’s Web” strain is named after Charlotte Figi, the first child who tried the treatment after her parents exhausted all of their other medical options. After she started taking this strain of medical marijuana, Charlotte’s seizures immediatelystopped, and the seven-year-old is now feeding herself, walking, and riding her bike. Her case helped convince CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta to reverse his position on the medical benefits of marijuana, admitting that he was “too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.”