The Utah administration has given green signal to a new state law that allows medical use of marijuana for limited use.
The decision has been hailed from all quarters with parents of Utah children with severe epilepsy cheering the move.
Utah’s Republican Gov. Gary Herbert has given his nod to the law and held a signing ceremony for about 50 parents and children at the state Capitol on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the new law, production of medical marijuana will not be allowed in Utah but families meeting certain restrictions can obtain the extract from other states.
The law takes effect on July 1 and expires in 2016. Its use is restricted to those with severe epilepsy for whom the regular treatments are not effective and requires a neurologist’s consent to obtain and use the extract.
The marijuana extract helps with a severe form of epilepsy. It is produced in nearby Colorado and is designed not to produce a high.
The extract comes from a strain of marijuana called Charlotte’s Web, named after the first child treated with it. The plant is low in THC, the hallucinogenic chemical in marijuana, and high in CBD, a chemical that may fight seizures.
Meanwhile, the doctors and health experts have warned against its use saying that there’s no proof yet that the extract is effective at treating epilepsy or even safe.
