Fight over medical marijuana extract for young boy

The family of a five year old boy is suing the state of Arizona over medical marijuana. Jennifer and Jacob Welton have been giving their five-year-old son Zander medical marijuana in the extract form for six weeks. They say he takes the dosage easily and they are seeing tremendous changes in their child. Zander has a genetic brain disorder that causes seizures, but since he’s been taking the extract, his progress has been incredible. “He’s actually stabbing food and putting it in his mouth, which was really cool to see. He’s been interacting with people a lot more,” said Jennifer.

But now, the Weltons fear prosecution for giving Zander the oil extract, because of a blog by the Director of the Arizona Department of Health Services, Will Humble. The blog questions the legality of the extract form of medical marijuana. Monday, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on the Weltons’ behalf against Mr. Humble, Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery, and Governor Jan Brewer. “So the irony is, this is the form that doesn’t get you high, but this is a form that Mr. Montgomery is saying he’ll criminally prosecute for using, which doesn’t make any sense,” said ACLU Attorney Kelly Flood.

The Weltons have stopped using the extract since reading the blog and are now crushing up the plant version and putting it in Zander’s applesauce. But they say he doesn’t like the texture and sometimes spits it out. They worry he’s not getting his proper dosage. The Weltons hope this lawsuit brings clarity on the medical marijuana law, but it could take two months to get answers. Both the Department of Health Services and Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery’s office told us they could not comment on a pending case.

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