A 5-year-old Mesa boy will be Arizona's 40th medical-marijuana patient under the age of 18.
Zander Welton has cortical dysplasia, a brain abnormality, which causes him to have seizures, which several medications, two brain surgeries, and an implant haven't solved, according to his parents.
According to a fundtraising website set up by Zander's parents, one medication he's on helps decrease the seizures, but causes behavioral issues. The other option presented to them is "another brain surgery that separated the halves of his brain, which would have a 50% chance of reducing seizures, while including side effects like paralysis, coma, or a vegetative state."
His parents are now willing to try medical marijuana for their son.
ABC 15 recently did a segment on Welton, and stated that his medical-marijuana application has been accepted.
Zander's parents have also set up a Facebook page that chronicles Zander's struggles, including videos of him suffering seizures:
In the ABC 15 report, Zander's parents say that they saw videos online of other kids with similar medical issues doing extraordinarily well with medical-marijuana treatments.
The boy's parents have also set up a fundraising website, hoping to raise enough money to pay for a year of medical-marijuana treatments, which have been recommended by a doctor.
State health department statistics indicate that one-tenth of one percent of medical-marijuana cardholders are under the age of 18.
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