Alexis Bortell, a 12-year-old forced to relocate with her family to access medical marijuana, is suing U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions./KDVR
By Caitlyn Hitt | New York Daily News
Alexis Bortell has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding medical marijuana legalization.
Due to legal restrictions, the 12-year-old, who turned to medical marijuana to control her seizure disorder, is unable to return home to her native Texas to visit family.
“I would like to be able to visit my grandparents without risking being taken to a foster home,” she told KDVR.
Her parents are backing her all the way.
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“Despite Washington D.C. and 29 states, including Arizona, having implemented medical marijuana programs, families in states who have not done so are still faced with impossible decisions when it comes to legally providing their children with safe and effective medicine. It’s an agonizing and often financially devastating decision that no parent should ever have to make.
“Our medical professionals are authorized to prescribe opioids and other pharmaceuticals to children, which often have devastating side effects and wreak havoc on their little bodies. That is not to say that traditional medicine is not important and often provides excellent options for treatment, however, in many cases medical marijuana is a beneficial adjunct treatment and in other cases it is an even more effective alternative treatment
“The point is medical professionals and parents should be able to make these decisions based upon the child, the diagnosis and other medical facts, without fear of prosecution or the loss of custody of their child. We continue to work to educate not only the public, but politicians and regulators, on the positive benefits of well-regulated medical marijuana programs, with the hope that one day no parent will ever face these impossible choices.”
