Hemp extract is now a legal remedy available to Wyoming citizens who suffer from epileptic seizures.
House Bill 32 passed without the governor’s signature and restricts the decriminalization of hemp extract possession only for individuals meeting certain criteria, but cannabis legalization activists say this new legislative allowance is a progressive step in the right direction.
“The children that are suffering from seizures daily will be able to test and see if this is an effective medication,” Chris Christian, director of the Wyoming chapter of the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), said. “I’m glad they finally got it done.”
Hemp extract is low in THC—the compound in cannabis that results in a high—but contains greater levels of CBD—a compound in cannabis that can reduce the frequency of seizures in individuals who suffer from them chronically.
The idea of growing strains of cannabis (and having medically beneficial cannabis without the high) gained popularity in 2011 with then five-year-old Charlotte Figi. Figi suffered as many as 300 seizures a week until her parents, desperate for a remedy, gave her what is now called Charlotte’s Web—a strain of cannabis that is part marijuana and part industrial hemp.
Though the hemp extracts now legal for a select few in Wyoming contain similar levels of THC and CBD, the American Epilepsy Society (AES) does not encourage medical marijuana as an effective method of reducing seizures.
According to an AES statement, “The recent anecdotal reports of positive effects of the marijuana derivative cannabidiol for some individuals with treatment-resistant epilepsy give reason for hope. However, we must remember that these are only anecdotal reports, and robust scientific evidence for the use of marijuana is lacking.”
The statement calls for the DEA to reschedule cannabis so further research can be done. Under the Controlled Substances Act, cannabis falls into Schedule I, meaning the substance has a high potential for abuse and no medical uses, according to the federal government.
Joseph Deufemia, who works with the Wyoming Department of Health and runs the Wyoming Hemp Extract Registry, said he is also concerned about the lack of research.
“The medical benefits of this are, as far as I know, still under investigation so I don’t know anything about how helpful it is for tractable epilepsy,” Deufemia said.
The new law defines “tractable epilepsy” as “epilepsy or seizure disorders that, as determined by a neurologist, does not respond to other treatment options overseen by the neurologist,” and it’s one of the restrictions placed on those seeking hemp extract in Wyoming.
In addition to showing other medical treatments have not worked, sufferers or parents of sufferers of tractable epilepsy must also pay $150 fee to apply.
But the greatest barrier to receiving this potential remedy is the lack of a legal market for hemp extract in Wyoming.
Possession of the extract was illegal for everyone in Wyoming until the first of this month, and its production and distribution are still illegal.
Deufemia said there was no place to get the extract in the state.
“All this legislation does is create a registry for people who get a hemp extract registration card,” he said. “That basically exempts them from that statute that would penalize them for criminal possession.”
Christian said individuals would bring cannabis or extracts across the Colorado or Montana border into the state when they view the medication as vital to their or their child’s wellbeing.
The new law simply allows those with a hemp extract registration card to do so legally.
The Wyoming Department of Health estimates the new program will help about 175 Wyoming residents, but Deufemia said he so far has received only a handful of calls about the registry and has yet to receive a completed application.
Still, Christian said she was excited about what she sees as shifting views among a state legislature that consistently votes down cannabis decriminalization bills.
The NORML Wyoming director said she would like to see medical marijuana legalized or decriminalized for all other conditions and diseases it might help.
“This new law shows that we are moving toward a more accepting view of cannabis in Wyoming that we are accepting it as medicine,” she said. “Some people have a very narrow view of what that medication should be used for, and we need to profoundly educate our public on the many, many uses of cannabis.”
