Burlington, News

CDB oil remains inaccessible

It was time for a new Schaeffer family photo this past summer, with Devin (from left), Tom, Grant and Sally Schaeffer posing with a photo of Lydia Schaeffer – who died last spring. Sally Schaeffer is continuing a battle to clear up problems with the law named after her daughter to make cannabidiol available as seizure medication. (Photo courtesy Sarah Baldwin Photography)
It was time for a new Schaeffer family photo this past summer, with Devin (from left), Tom, Grant and Sally Schaeffer posing with a photo of Lydia Schaeffer – who died last spring. Sally Schaeffer is continuing a battle to clear up problems with the law named after her daughter to make cannabidiol available as seizure medication. (Photo courtesy Sarah Baldwin Photography)

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

These days, Sally Schaeffer is dealing with loss.

It’s not just the fact she lost her daughter, Lydia, last Mother’s Day. It’s the time she lost before that, fighting to get Lydia access to cannabidiol – a form of medical marijuana that could have stopped the seizures her daughter was having almost non-stop at night.

“I lost time,” Schaeffer said Tuesday night. “Not only did I lose her, I lost all that time before that.

“I spent time fighting for something that’s not working,” she added. “It’s upsetting to me.”

Schaeffer is referring to state Act 267 – now known as Lydia’s Law – which legalized cannabidiol, or CDB oil for short, as a treatment option for all those suffering from seizures…and then basically handcuffed those people from accessing the medication.

While the law was signed into effect last spring, a late addition to it has proven such a hurdle that no one can actually get the medication.

Added to the bill before Gov. Scott Walker signed it into law was this: “If the federal food and drug administration issues an investigational drug permit, the controlled substances board shall approve which pharmacies and physicians may dispense cannabidiol to patients.”

As a result, Schaeffer explained, “pretty much, there’s nothing going on.”

“It’s an expensive and lengthy process to do,” Schaeffer said of the FDA license, which essentially amounts to a drug trial and involves all the federal red tape that surrounds it.

“No one’s applied for it,” Schaeffer said.

In essence, the investigational license has placed parents in Wisconsin in limbo, as well as adults who could benefit from the medication, since there are no age limits in the law.

That includes Schaeffer, who has remained active – both on a state and federal level – trying to help parents get access to the drug and see if the cannabidiol – which doesn’t produce a high like marijuana, but has been effective in controlling seizures – can be made available throughout the country.

“It is frustrating,” said Schaeffer. “There are families and people who need this.

“People are afraid they’re going to end up in our shoes,” she added, referring to the fact that her daughter died before having the benefit of cannabidiol.

Schaeffer said she wants to see lawmakers – both on the state level and in Washington, D.C. – work to fix the problem.

“I don’t want her legacy after something that’s not working,” she said.

Schaeffer said that state Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Mount Pleasant, pledged his support during the run-up to the election last fall and again at his victory party.

“I asked him for his support, and he said yes,” Schaeffer said.

One Comment

  1. Walker Doesn’t care about the people of Wis. He’s to busy chasing his pipe dream