Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 9-24-21

CBD Treatment Former Complex
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condition . . . and a second physician who is a board-cer- tified pediatrician concurs with such determination.”
Andrea Anderson’s
young son was diagnosed with a severe form of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). “He was put on pharmaceuticals in kinder- garten,” she says. “I really did- n't want to go that route, but he was really struggling in school.”
The side effects of the drugs were so troubling that Anderson began looking into using cannabis as a medicine and says she learned the most from the California nonprofit Whole Plant Access for Autism. She says that experi- ence led her to become a certi- fied cannabis consultant and start Canna Crusader Well- ness in Tallahassee to help children and adults improve their health and wellness with medical cannabis.
She can point to her son’s progress as a medical mari- juana patient as a success story. Now 11, he has been pharma free for three years, relying instead on a combina- tion of CBD and cannabigerol (CBG) treatments to help sup- press the effects of ADHD.
“It's been a total game- changer,” Anderson says of the impact the non-THC CBD- CBG treatments have had on her son’s health. “We don't have the rage and the headaches and all the side ef- fects anymore.”
Dr. Berger, who does not treat Anderson’s son, says that ADHD is treatable with medical cannabis in Florida even though it’s not expressly listed as a qualifying condi- tion. It is considered a chronic debilitating ailment similar to one or more of the other con- ditions on the list.
As a word of caution, An- derson recommends that par- ents who may be interested in CBD-style treatments for their
children get them certified for a medical marijuana card, even though many products can be purchased without it.
“I think it's advisable to get their card anyways, because even in the legal cannabis states there has been cases where families have had to jump through Department of Children and Families investi- gations just for giving their child CBD, which is legal in all states, but it's different when you're giving it to a minor,” she says. “Those child endan- germent laws can be a little bit of a gray area.”
Visit https://bit.ly/can-
nabisandkids to watch MMERI’s Conversations on Cannabis Virtual Forum fea- turing Dr. David Berger and cannabis mom Andrea An- derson on YouTube.
For more information on medical marijuana and to sign up for the MMERI newsletter, go to http://mmeri.famu.edu.
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cause them to lose the roof over their heads.
“We must always fight against anything that profiles us, and make sure it’s fixed, but, we also have to hold our own accountable, too.
How can we uphold anyone who has our children living in danger where they sleep and play”?
“Most people who live in what is considered low income housing are automatically stig- matized, but usually are not given help or even given a sec- ond thought until a headline projects what folks want us to see or believe.
“We tried to do what was best for the people the 50+ years we housed them, but it got harder and harder because of a few.”
The buzz in the community has been about those arrested for minor offenses and being
evicted, even being evicted if their juvenile children commit offenses.
“As far as juveniles who commit crimes, well, some of our Moms asked for help. We know what goes on in our households. One child can tear up an entire house. In our case, we attempted to help Moms that were struggling, as did some former managers of other complexes. Some of par- ents were struggling to keep the rest of the family together and work. In the old days of living in complexes like Tampa Park, it was more of a village concept. That is gone, like all of the housing complexes, like ours. So programs like Crime- Free are the replacement.”
Last, Friday, former police chief now Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, retired police officer now, City Council Chair Or- lando Gudes and State Rep- resentative Dianne Hart met to make some adjustments to the current program.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY PAGE 11-A