15 Year Old Treats Crohn’s Disease With Cannabis & Gets His Life Back

by Arjun Walia

CollectiveEvolution

Coltyn Turner, a 15 year old boy who, as a result of his battle with Crohn’s disease (a severe type of inflammatory bowel disease), was so ill that he had to be confined to a wheelchair, recently testified before the Colorado State Legislature that he’d “rather be illegally alive than legally dead.”

This is because he used cannabis to treat his disease, which is illegal in his home state of Illinois. Simply in order to treat their son with cannabis, his family was forced to re-locate to Colorado.

“He’s a prisoner in the state of Colorado because of medication. Coltyn can’t go, he can’t go back home, he can’t go see his friends, he can’t go see his family, he is stuck in the state of Colorado… He can’t live a normal life in the place where he grew up and the place where he has six generations of family. It’s just tough.” (source)

Over the past year, Coltyn has used cannabis oil on his path to healing. He developed Crohn’s disease (that was believed to be a result of a bacterial infection), and his condition deteriorated at a rapid pace. At that point, doctors recommended turning towards holistic remedies, which is why his family began to consider cannabis oil their best option.

Unlike with cancer, not many studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of cannabis in the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases, but as you can see from the news report below, multiple studies are currently underway and we look forward to seeing the results.

The first report on using cannabis to treat Crohn’s was published in 2011 and concluded:

“The results indicate that cannabis may have a positive effect on disease activity, as reflected by reduction in disease activity index, and in the need for other drugs and surgery. Prospective placebo-controlled studies are warranted to fully evaluate the efficacy and side effects of cannabis in CD.” (source)

Another study, published in 2013, concluded:

“Although the primary end point of the study (induction of remission) was not achieved, a short course (8 weeks) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 10 of 11 patients with active Crohn’s disease, compared with placebo, without side effects. Further studies, with larger patient groups and a nonsmoking mode of intake, are warranted.” (source)

About the author

I joined the CE team in 2010 shortly after finishing university and have been grateful for the fact that I have been able to do this ever since :) There are many things happening on the planet that don't resonate with me, and I wanted to do what I could to play a role in creating change. It's been great making changes in my own life and creating awareness and I look forward to more projects that move beyond awareness and into action and implementation. So stay tuned :) arjun@collective-evolution.com