Rachael Selmeski and daughter, Maggie.
Maggie Selmeski, who is 18 months old, has been on marijuana oil for four weeks.
Her mother, Waterloo, Iowa, native Rachael Selmeski, mixes 8 milligrams of plant material with olive oil and squirts the mixture into Maggie’s mouth using a syringe.
“People have visions of me smoking pot and blowing it in her face,” Selmeski said. “There’s a lot of ignorance.”
Maggie suffers intractable epilepsy. On her worst day, the toddler can have up to 500 seizures, her mother said.
Six different pharmaceuticals didn’t slow the seizures and left Maggie feeling lethargic, Selmeski said.
Maggie was born in Tennessee. Rachael and her husband, Shawn Selmeski, moved to Colorado in September specifically to get medical marijuana for their daughter.
Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000. Tennessee, like Iowa, outlaws it.
A doctor in Colorado recommended marijuana for Maggie, and her parents bought her first therapeutic dose at a dispensary last month.
“There were Bob Marley signs and glass containers with pot,” Selmeski said, describing the dispensary near their home in Littleton. “You’re going to do what you got to do. So what if it’s a little weird and awkward. It’s a pot shop.”
They bought a strain of marijuana rich in cannabidiol, or CBD, one of the plant’s many components that doesn’t produce a high. Selmeski said it’s too early to see the drug’s effect on Maggie’s seizures, but the toddler seems much more alert, sleeps better and has a better appetite.
“I thought we’d have an insomniac on our hands,” Selmeski joked.
Selmeski described her and her husband’s beliefs as “very conservative.” They’ve never used marijuana themselves.
After researching the drug’s potential medical benefits, Selmeski said the choice was a no-brainer.
“It’s a plant. It’s God-created,” she said. “Our child is already severely addicted to pharmaceuticals. Now that she’s on cannabis oil, we’ll flush the pharmaceuticals out of her system. She won’t be high for once in her life.”
Her mother, Waterloo, Iowa, native Rachael Selmeski, mixes 8 milligrams of plant material with olive oil and squirts the mixture into Maggie’s mouth using a syringe.
“People have visions of me smoking pot and blowing it in her face,” Selmeski said. “There’s a lot of ignorance.”
Maggie suffers intractable epilepsy. On her worst day, the toddler can have up to 500 seizures, her mother said.
Six different pharmaceuticals didn’t slow the seizures and left Maggie feeling lethargic, Selmeski said.
Maggie was born in Tennessee. Rachael and her husband, Shawn Selmeski, moved to Colorado in September specifically to get medical marijuana for their daughter.
Colorado legalized medical marijuana in 2000. Tennessee, like Iowa, outlaws it.
A doctor in Colorado recommended marijuana for Maggie, and her parents bought her first therapeutic dose at a dispensary last month.
“There were Bob Marley signs and glass containers with pot,” Selmeski said, describing the dispensary near their home in Littleton. “You’re going to do what you got to do. So what if it’s a little weird and awkward. It’s a pot shop.”
They bought a strain of marijuana rich in cannabidiol, or CBD, one of the plant’s many components that doesn’t produce a high. Selmeski said it’s too early to see the drug’s effect on Maggie’s seizures, but the toddler seems much more alert, sleeps better and has a better appetite.
“I thought we’d have an insomniac on our hands,” Selmeski joked.
Selmeski described her and her husband’s beliefs as “very conservative.” They’ve never used marijuana themselves.
After researching the drug’s potential medical benefits, Selmeski said the choice was a no-brainer.
“It’s a plant. It’s God-created,” she said. “Our child is already severely addicted to pharmaceuticals. Now that she’s on cannabis oil, we’ll flush the pharmaceuticals out of her system. She won’t be high for once in her life.”