Late one night in January 2013 I stayed up reading the news and happened upon an article about high CBD and other forms of pediatric cannabis through the inspirational and hope-filled story of Jason and Jayden David. (You can follow their courageous journey here.) I was moved to tears by this father’s commitment to finding healing for his son and by the unbelievable healing power of cannabis. This is huge, I thought. This is life changing for our entire culture. I had no way of knowing that within weeks my son would have his first of thousands of seizures and our lives would be changed forever.

At the same time other desperate parents around the country were also taking notice. This amazing YouTube video began circulating Facebook (THE online resource for educational support around pediatric cannabis) about the first families in Colorado using high CBD oils to treat Dravet’s Syndrome in Charlotte Figi and Doose Syndrome in Zaki Jackson.

The Stanley Brothers (the family who manufactures the high CBD oil named after Charlotte, called Charlotte’s Web) then gave this TED Talk.

That summer Sanja Gupta, a CNN medical correspondent, created further awareness by producing two documentaries on medicinal cannabis - WEED and WEED 2.

Inspired by these stories and always following hope, many of us here in San Diego met each other at the first educational seminars put on by the Realm of Caring, CA in the fall. It quickly became obvious to all of us that pediatric cannabis is an uncharted territory, and that if we were going to navigate it safely for our children that there would be a lot to learn and we were going to need a lot of support. We needed a community.