The parents of a toddler in Scotch Plains are asking the state to revise its medical marijuana program in a way that could help their daughter with her seizure disorder known as Dravet syndrome.

Two-year-old Vivian Wilson is a registered medical marijuana patient, but her family has many hurdles to overcome before she would be able to benefit from the program.

medical marijuana
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A certain strain of marijuana, an edible form, has been helping children with seizures in Colorado and California. According to The Star Ledger, New Jersey law prohibits the sale of edible pot products like "Charlotte's Web," the marijuana strain named after the first child who tried it. Growers in New Jersey are currently limited to producing three strains of marijuana.

"This is a very slippery slope," said Governor Chris Christie, who was left to deal with the medical pot program signed into law by former Governor Jon Corzine.

"I have the Health Commissioner looking at that particular situation and making recommendations to me," he added. "But I don't want to mislead people either; I'm not inclined to allow that to happen."

Finding doctors who are willing to recommend children to the program has also been an obstacle for any family dealing with a minor who has a qualifying medical condition.

The state's second medical marijuana dispensary is scheduled to open this fall in Atlantic County, nearly four years since the program became law. Greenleaf Compassion Center in Montclair opened late last year.

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