Somerhalder petitions for medical marijuana

Ian Somerhalder is petitioning for the legalisation of a form of medical marijuana used to treat children who suffer from epilepsy.

The Vampire Diaries star took to Twitter this week to share the story of a nine-month-old girl named Kaitlyn Pogson. According to the Toronto Star, Kate suffers from a severe form of epilepsy that causes her to suffer up to 300 seizures a day and her parents are fighting for her to receive alternative treatment.

A petition was started on website Change.org to fight for the young girl to be prescribed a special strain of marijuana supporters believe could reduce the number of seizures she experiences due to Dravet syndrome.

“RT @DevonHaas: WE NEED 18 MORE PEOPLE TO SIGN THIS! SIGN AND RT! #doitforKim,” Ian wrote, including a link to the petition.

According to the draft, penned by Pediatric CBD Canada, Kaitlyn’s special access to the drug Cannabidiol (CBD) was denied.

The petition goes on to state that CBD is a non-psychoactive extract of marijuana that does not create a “high” and has “no observed side effects”.

“CBD has produced incredibly positive results in the United States for not just Dravet Syndrome but all medically refractory epilepsies. Many children who were previously not eating, non-verbal, and constrained to a wheelchair are now thriving, having overcome all of these developmental delays. Let's band together, raise awareness, and make CBD available in Canada for anyone who needs it," it states.

Ian’s promotion of the campaign seemed to boost awareness about the drug and support for Kaitlyn.

At press time, the petition had received over 6,000, needing less that 1,500 more to complete the organisation’s goal.