One Point Loma mother crossed state lines in order to legally access hemp oil for her daughter, who suffers from constant seizures. Kristin Bowker says CBD has been "life-changing" for her daughter, Bella.
But now 10 years later, Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest executive order to ban the sale of any product that contains THC outside of a legal marijuana store could change that.
"Bella, just before her third birthday, she would sleep through life," says Bowker. "Because she was so medicated, she was literally on so many pharmaceuticals to control the seizures that she just slept all the time."
Bella has Aicardi syndrome, and what her mother described was most of her life as a toddler.
"She would have seizures, wake up for a seizure, and then go back to sleep," Bowker says.
The Bowkers left their Nevada home 10 years ago in order to find an answer help their daughter.
"We were desperate. We had traveled across the country to see specialists," Bowker. "We had considered brain surgery and it was in 2014 that we had heard about hemp CBD as a medicine.”
And that is when she says they saw immediate results.
"Then after we started the hemp CBD, she was weaned off of those other medications," Bowker says.
But now, with the looming ban by Gov. Newsom on all hemp THC products sold outside of dispensaries, it could cut families like the Bowkers off from the medicine they need most.
"It affects a big population in California as well as my daughter and people like us," says Bowker. "We don't know what we're gonna do next.”
The goal of the emergency ban was to protect consumers and more specifically children. Most hemp products are currently sold online or in liquor and convenience stores, and there is a specific difference in the type of oil Bella needs.
"Hemp CBD has 0.03% THC or lower, so there's no psychoactive effect whatsoever," she explains when asked why she can't just go to the dispensary.
And for any mother, but especially Bowker right now, every milestone matters.
"Just two months ago, Bella started smiling for the first time," Bowker says tearfully. "She started smiling and we've had amazing results in its medicine. It's just wrong to take it away from our family and other families in the state. ”
But whatever may happen, Bella's mom makes one thing clear: They are not putting their 13-year-old daughter back on more pharmaceutical drugs.
"Our family would up and move to another state before we would ever put her back in that position just as you've done, just like I've done before," she says.
