Liberty Minute August 29 2013

Stockton May is an 11-year-old boy from Pleasant Grove, Utah who suffers from Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy. There is no known cure for the condition. It can cause fatal swelling of the brain or sudden death during sleep.

For more than a decade, Stockton?s mother, Jennifer May, has pursued every possible treatment for her son. Two treatment protocols eased his symptoms, but caused severe bone loss and compromised his immune system. Earlier this year she learned that a child in neighboring Colorado who likewise suffers from Dravet Syndrome has been treated successfully using a product derived from marijuana.

Both medicinal and recreational uses of marijuana are legal in Colorado. Unfortunately, even the medicinal use of marijuana is treated as if it were a crime in Utah; mere possession of less than an ounce is punishable by a six month prison sentence and a $1,000 fine. The state?s ruling Republican establishment, displaying its characteristic mixture of Puritanical cruelty and punitive sanctimony, isn?t willing to consider decriminalizing marijuana even for limited medical purposes.

In a recent interview, Jennifer May explained ?I don?t want an illegal drug. I want a medicine.? In a free society, that anguished mother wouldn?t be forced to beg permission to help her son.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.