LARKSPUR, CO (KDVR/CNN) – A 12-year-old girl, who uses medical marijuana to manage her epilepsy and resultant seizures, is suing U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions to legalize the drug nationwide.
Alexis Bortell, 12, and her family moved to Colorado to access medical marijuana after a pediatrician mentioned it may help Alexis’ epilepsy without invasive brain surgery.
"I have intractable epilepsy, so I have seizures that traditional medications wouldn't really help,” Alexis said.
The 12-year-old now takes a drop of liquid THC, the principal ingredient found in cannabis, twice a day. It has kept her seizure-free for 2.5 years.
But Alexis says the federal law restricting marijuana use prevents her from returning to her old home in Texas.
“I would like to be able to visit my grandparents without risking being taken to a foster home,” Alexis said.
Since the 1970s, the Drug Enforcement Agency has classified marijuana as a Schedule One drug, which means it’s considered a drug that poses a safety issue, has the potential for abuse and has no medicinal purpose or use.
Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have legalized the drug for medical purposes, but Alexis and her attorneys argue it should be legal nationwide.
Alexis says she hopes the lawsuit will normalize medical marijuana as well.
Another child, a marijuana advocacy group, a military veteran and former Denver Broncos player Marvin Washington have also joined the suit.
The federal government lost its first motion to have the case dismissed.
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