Hundreds of families are flocking to Colorado, the first US state to legalise cannabis for recreational use, seeking to use the drug as a "miracle cure" for children with seizure-related conditions such as epilepsy.
About 100 families have become "medical refugees" in the state and a further 171 are considering moving to Colorado in the next few months, according to a non-profit group that produces a cannabis-derived treatment for sufferers.
Colorado officials have said they want to spend $7m (€5.1m) on grants for scientists to establish whether children could benefit from such treatments, or whether they would suffer damaging side-effects in the long term.
Of the families who have arrived in Colorado hoping to treat their children, some have reported large reductions in seizures after giving them a type of cannabis oil containing the derivative, cannabidiol.
The most high-profile case of a child being treated with cannabidiol is that of Charlotte Figi (7), who suffers from a rare and severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome.
Source: Nick Allen, Irish Independent, 13/01/14
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