by April M. Short
on April 17, 2015
In a victory for human rights, medicine and plain old common sense, felony charges held against a Minnesota mother who gave cannabis oil to her son for severe health issues, have been dropped.
When her 11-year old, Trey, was dealing with a series of medical issues — including a stroke and coma — following a sports-related injury, Angela Brown turned to cannabis oil. When he came out of the coma Trey began experiencing severe headaches, muscles spasms and even seizures. His grades were suffering, and Brown reported that the boy was even physically harming himself.
Court documents show that the family tried a long series of legal treatments before Brown tried cannabis. Once he had cannabis, Trey’s family reports, his symptoms improved significantly. Unfortunately, due to the government’s outdated prohibition of the herb, using the oil made Brown a felon, and when the authorities caught wind of her so-called crime by way of the boy’s school, she risked losing custody of her son and serving time in prison. While 23 states as well as Washington, D.C. allow medical marijuana use, Minnesota is not yet one of them (however Minnesota is set to implement a new medical marijuana law on July 1).
Brown was charged with two counts of child endangerment. One of the charges was dropped in January, and a press release from Brown’s attorney explains that the state of Minnesota filed a “continued for dismissal” petition with the Lac Qui Parle County Court on April 17th to dismiss the remaining charge of child endangerment. As part of the agreement, Brown must pay $100 and avoid all violations for 90 days. She does not have to plead guilty.
In order to continue giving Trey the only medicine that has shown to work well for him, the Brown family plans to move to Colorado where cannabis is legal (both medically and for adult use), and the necessary oil easier to come by.
The family launched a GoFundMe crowdsourcing fundraiser in order to cover their medical bills and moving expenses. You can watch a CBS Minnesota video featuring Angela Brown below: