Tag Archives: minnesota medical marijuana

Drug War, Featured, Politics, US

Angela Brown: 1 Of 2 Charges Dropped For Mother Who Treated Son With Cannabis Oil

15 Comments

Madison, MN- A judge dismissed one of the charges faced by Angela Brown, a Minnesota mother who was initially facing two child endangerment charges for administering cannabis oil to her son Trey.

Brown and her attorney, Michael Hughes, had filed motions to dismiss the charges last December, arguing that there was not probable cause to believe that Mrs. Brown committed child endangerment, and had requested that the Court dismiss the charges in the ‘Interest of Justice’.

The state has claimed that Brown administering medical cannabis to Trey was “sale” of a controlled substance in violation of Minnesota law which justified the child endangerment charges. A press release from Hughes stated that the government claims Brown’s actions were “dangerous and injurious” to her son and that the government had also “openly threatened the Brown family with other legal proceedings if there was any future treatment with medical cannabis by the Brown’s son” in its brief.

Judge Thomas Von Hon ruled that Brown giving cannabis oil to her son was not the sale of a controlled substance. Van Hon did not dismiss the remaining child endangerment charge claiming that administering medicinal cannabis put Trey in danger, and soon a jury will decide if Brown’s decision to treat Trey actually constituted child endangerment.

“I am very thankful that the Judge agreed with us regarding Count 1. Clearly, this was not child endangerment based on a controlled substance crime. We understand the Court’s rational for not dismissing Count 2. As long as the County Attorney maintains their position that treating a 15 year old with cannabis oil is in and of itself ‘dangerous’, then that is a factual dispute that only a jury can resolve. The Minnesota state legislature and a majority of other state legislatures belteve(sic) that treating children who are suffering from certain diseases or injuries with cannabis is not only safe, but effective. We agree, which is why we will continue to fight these charges,” said Hughes. He also noted that Brown will be in need of securing medical experts to testify at the trial.

Angela Brown was charged last summer after staff at Trey’s school found out he was taking cannabis oil to treat seizures and severe pain he had been suffering from as a result of a head injury during a baseball game. Brown’s decision to treat Trey with cannabis came after trying several other treatment options that provided no relief to Trey. The state has since held onto its argument that Angela Brown has harmed her son by giving him cannabis; medical marijuana will be legal in Minnesota this July.

In a January 9 response to the government’s brief opposing motions to dismiss the charges, Hughes challenged the prosecution’s insinuation that Angela was reckless in how she was giving the oil to her son. Hughes stated that the cannabis oil given to Trey was “a one-to-one ratio (1:1) of THC and CBD oil, and according to the bottle had 150 mg of each” and that “CBD rich oil is not going to have the intoxicating effects that an oil that is rich in THC would have. Many medical cannabis patients seek to avoid the intoxicating effects of THC, but they need some of the pain relief properties of the THC. They get products that are CBD rich, like the one-to-one oil at question in this case.”

Ben Swann has reported on combinations of THC and CBD oil and its various benefits to people suffering from ailments such as epilepsy, Crohn’s disease and cancer, and has also reported on the federal government’s claim that cannabis is not medicine while holding two patents for its use of cannabinoids for medicinal purposes.

Hughes’s response went on to state that the Brown family had visited a laboratory in Colorado to obtain CBD-rich oil after being unable to find it in retail cannabis shops. The response stated that the oil was given to the Browns legally “from someone in Colorado who clearly cared about helping a family deal with a child suffering” from a severe injury. The response claimed that it is legal in Colorado to give away less than one ounce of cannabis.

State Senator Branden Petersen (R-Anoka) introduced a bill earlier this month encouraging the Lac qui Parle County attorney to drop the charges against Angela Brown. The bill states that “Angela Brown’s son has pain so intense that he has headaches, muscle spasms, and seizures, and has self-harming behaviors that have resulted in a broken nose, broken clavicle, and wanting to end his life”. The bill also states that Mrs. Brown attempted “all other options to help Trey cope with the pain, such as administering more than 19 different prescribed medications, dealing with his suffering for four months from a serotonin overload attributed to the prescribed medications”, and “following an emergency room visit where a doctor suggested medical cannabis, Angela obtained medical cannabis oil legally in Colorado.”

(Updated January 26th, 2014, 12:50 p.m.)

Drug War, Featured, Marijuana Prohibition, Politics, US

Angela Brown: Mother Who Treated Son With Cannabis Oil Files Motion To Dismiss Charges

Video 12 Comments

Madison, MN- Angela Brown, a mother fighting charges from the state of Minnesota for treating her son’s traumatic brain injuries with cannabis oil, has continued her fight with a motion from her attorney, Michael R. Hughes, to dismiss the charges. the motion was filed December 3rd.

According to a press release from Hughes, “Michael R. Hughes of Hughes Law in Bend, Oregon has filed motions in the Angela Brown case asking the Court to dismiss the charges. One of the motions filed argues that there is not probable cause to believe that Mrs. Brown committed child endangerment, as charged in the criminal complaint. The other motion requests that the Court dismiss the charges in the ‘Interest of Justice’.”

The Brown’s legal challenges stemming from a family decision to treat son Trey Brown with medicinal cannabis oil from Colorado has gained national media attention. The Browns looked to the oil to treat Trey, who had been suffering from muscle spasms and seizures following a brain injury, after all other medicinal options failed. Angela, charged with child endangerment, faces up to $6,000 in fines and two years in prison if convicted because Minnesota’s medical marijuana legalization bill does not take effect until July 2015.

Angela rejected a plea deal in October. Her next hearing is December 17th at 10:00 a.m. at the Lac qui Parle County Courthouse in Madison, Minnesota.

Drug War, Opinion, Politics, US

Minnesota Mother Charged For Giving Son Medical Marijuana

Video 11 Comments

Madison, MN- A mother in Minnesota was charged with child endangerment after giving her son medical marijuana oil from Colorado after she had exhausted all other options to combat the boy’s seizures and chronic pain.

Angela Brown said she’s spent three years watching her son Trey suffer from seizures and extreme pain after he had sustained a severe brain injury during a baseball game. At age 11, Trey was hit in the temple by a baseball and suffered from a stroke and a coma following the injury. The pain that Trey experienced was described as severe. “It just hurts in my brain, just everywhere in there,” said Trey, now 15. “I really can’t explain the pain.”

The pain that Trey had been going through greatly affected his learning; he was unable to attend school and had begun hurting himself. “I was afraid to go to the bathroom,” said Angela Brown. “Because I was afraid that he- that I would come back and he would be harming himself.”

The Brown family had tried several other treatments, and then decided to travel to Colorado and try cannabis oil for Trey. The Browns said that just a few hours after taking the oil, Trey’s symptoms disappeared. “It was just amazing to find something that helped our son,” said Trey’s father, David Brown.

As Trey’s academic performance improved, the staff at his school became curious about what had helped him find relief. When it was discovered he was taking cannabis oil, a child protection worker interviewed the Browns. A criminal complaint was then filed in June; the oil was seized and the Brown family said Trey’s pain has returned. “He’s got the muscle spasms, the pain, everything back to where it was before,” said David Brown.

“The prosecutor’s version of this is that a good mom allows her child to be in pain, to self-harm, and attempt to take his life,” said Angela Brown. “I guess that’s a good mom in his eyes.”

Although the state of Minnesota passed a medical marijuana legalization bill and was signed in May of this year, the legislation does not take effect until July 2015. Trey would likely be qualified to obtain medical marijuana at that time; however, it is uncertain that he would be able to use the same variety of cannabis oil that has provided him relief.

The Brown family is now considering moving to Colorado to be able to continue Trey’s treatment after Angela Brown’s legal fate is decided; she faces two years in jail and $6,000 in fines. Chief House author of the medical marijuana bill, Rep. Carly Melin (DFL-Hibbing), pointed out that “The legal protections will be in place soon here in Minnesota, but for the family, not soon enough.”