Unlike Oregon and California, Idaho doesn’t have medical marijuana. In fact, in 2013, Idaho lawmakers passed a resolution saying they would never support legalizing marijuana for any reason.
But one year later, during the 2014 legislative session, many of those same lawmakers held closed-door discussions about creating an exception to the state’s strict anti-pot laws. And it was all because of a little girl from Boise and her mom.
Nine-year-old Alexis Carey has a rare form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. She started having seizures when she was a couple months old. Her mom Clare says Alexis is a happy kid, but she can’t speak or potty train.
“You have seizures that go on for over an hour and nothing stops them,” Clare says.
“It’s so hard to helplessly watch your kid seizing for an hour,” Alexis’ dad Michael Carey says. “You can’t describe how painful it is.”
