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Cannabis Cactus

Fallen, Charlotte Figi: October 8, 2006 – April 7, 2020


[11:32am 4/8/2020] The global cannabis community lost one of its youngest and toughest MMJ patients, possibly to the Coronavirus on Tuesday April 7, 2020. Reports are still unconfirmed on the exact cause.

Charlotte was known around the world for being one of the youngest cannabis patients in Colorado. Her parents treated her rare form of epilepsy with CBD cannabis oil after exhausting all other treatment options. The oil turned her into a normal little girl who could walk and talk again.

Charlotte Figi, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 13, while suffering from complications thought to be caused by the Covid-19 Coronavirus.  Several members from members of her family had been sick and they were self quarantining at their home in Colorado.  Keep the Figi family in your thoughts when you spark up a joint today. 

Charlotte’s parents were veterans in the fight for CBD medicine after years of treating her grand mal seizures with CBD oil. They fought for her to become one of the youngest patients in Denver to ever receive cannabis treatment.

This led to the development of a new strain developed in Colorado to produce high CBD and low THC. This Hemp derived strain makes a potent CBD oil. This was one of the most famous cases in the cannabis community as her parents fought for her to have cannabis medicine. The story was covered by CNN and other major outlets and helped people understand the medicinal value of CBD and THC.

Charlotte’s story started when her parents, Matt and Paige Figi, became pregnant with twins. Charlotte was born on October 18, 2006 at 40 weeks old. Charlotte weighed 7 pounds and 12 oz and everything seemed normal for both babies.

It wasn’t until 3 months later that Charlotte’s mom was drying her from a bath and the first seizure began. Her eyes flickered in her head for almost 30 minutes. This was only the beginning for young Charlotte and the seizures became more violent and consistent. Doctors performed exhaustive tests including MRI’s and found zero conclusive results. The hospital sent her home with no answers and, at one point, doctors considered putting her in a medically induced coma to give her body time to rest.

Charlotte’s body was developing normally but the seizures were getting worse. At age two, she was declining quickly and a neurological test came back positive for an SCN1A gene mutation, which is common in rare forms of epilepsy like Dravet syndrome And doctors even tried treating her with the special diet that was Ketogenic and would play a role in releasing chemicals that inhibit seizures. Dravet syndrome is a very rare form of epilepsy that prevents many children from surviving to adulthood. Charlotte was positive for Dravet syndrome.

She was having about 300 seizures a week and had lost the ability to walk When her mother finally decided to try medical marijuana. Until then, Paige had voted against cannabis and now found herself searching for two doctors to certify her daughter as a patient. Once Charlotte was certified, Paige went to a small dispensary and bought a strain called R4 that was high in CBD. She paid a lab to extract the oil and had it tested Before starting Charlotte on a small dose.

At first they had no idea what would happen but in the first hour after dosing the oil, there were no seizures. They applied more CBD oil and then again there were no seizures for several hours. Seven days later, Charlotte still had zero seizures.

By the time Charlotte was 6 years old she was playing like any normal child riding bikes and walking outside. Her parents administered the CBD oil twice daily in her food. Her prescription was 3 to 4 mg per pound of body weight and she only had seizures once or twice a month.

Paige Figi found a group of six brothers who had developed a high CBD strain. The problem was nobody wanted this strain and it wasn’t selling well. After meeting Charlotte, the Stanley Brothers decided to help her by donating this medicine to her and other families who could not afford the treatment. They call The Strain Charlotte’s Web and have been a huge factor in changing people’s hearts about treating children with cannabis. Charlotte’s Web contains about 14% to 18% CBD content. Charlotte’s story has been the reason for changes in cannabis law at the federal level. We will not forget this brave little girl and her family.

 


Michael Cassini

Michael Cassini is the founder and editor in chief of The Cannabis Cactus Magazine. He focuses on community relationships with a goal to maintain a culture of love, peace and knowledge in the cannabis industry.

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