Being able to better control her daughter’s seizure with medical marijuana without having to worry about breaking the law is a huge relief to Angela Sharrer.
This New Oxford married mother of two is among the parents or caregivers in Pennsylvania who possess an approved “Safe Harbor” letter from the state Department of Health.
That letter permits them to obtain medical marijuana outside the state and legally possess it in Pennsylvania to administer to their child under the age of 18 who has one of 17 certified medical conditions, such as cancer, epilepsy, PTSD, assorted neurological and gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain, sickle cell disease and autism.
The letters are valid through May 2018, by which time Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program is expected to be operational.
Sharrar applied for hers as the caregiver for her 13-year-old daughter Annie, whose diagnosis includes intractable epilepsy and autism. Having this letter provides Sharrar with peace of mind knowing she can legally have the marijuana-based oil in her home to treat her daughter without worrying about being arrested.
“It’s just really a nice umbrella to be under,” she said, “and know you’re legally covered in case something arises.”
It also frees her up to talk openly to doctors and others who come in contact with her daughter about medical marijuana as part of Annie’s treatment.
Obtaining the “Safe Harbor” letter was simple, Sharrar said. She completed the forms on the health department’s website and obtained a criminal background check verifying she has no prior record of a drug offense.
“I sent all that to the Department of Health and in two or three months I received the Safe Harbor letter,” she said.
The Safe Harbor provision was put into Act 16, the state law legalizing medical marijuana, to provide legal protection for parents who wanted access to medical cannabis to treat their child while waiting for dispensaries to open in this state.
“If I didn’t have Safe Harbor and was treating Annie with oil and was arrested in some county that doesn’t recognize that the law was passed, I would have a drug charge on my record,” Sharrar said.
If that were to happen, that would make her ineligible to obtain a card as her daughter’s caregiver to buy the drug from a dispensary after they open up here.
Sharrar looks forward to that day.
The health department in June issued permits to 27 dispensaries, which are allowed to apply for up to three locations within their region. That will result in 52 dispensaries that will open initially around the state. Act 16 allows for an additional 23 permits, which could mean as many as 150 dispensaries eventually could open up in Pennsylvania.
Not only will it be more convenient to go to a dispensary to buy her daughter’s medical marijuana rather than having to get it through mail order, Sharrar also is eager to have more product options with different ratios of cannabidiol, or CBD – a non-intoxicating compound – and tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, that component that causes the high.
The mail-order company she uses is only permitted to sell her hemp oil with a low THC content.
“That really limits what you’re able to purchase,” Sharrar said. “So besides the convenience, you’ll have a lot more choice as far as products and [CBD to THC] ratios and you’ll be able to play around with more ratios that may or may not help with seizure control a little better. That’s the end goal – to have the least amount of seizures that you can have.”
credit:pennlive.com
