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PROVO — Utah legislators plan to work out specifics of medical marijuana in a compromise bill after voters approved Proposition 2 this month, and the outcome will be life-changing for a prominent Utah family.
Life in the Campbell home in Provo is never boring. Connor Campbell, age 11, requires a lot of patience.
“I’ve felt since he was born that it’s not a mistake that he is the way he is,” said Emilie Campbell, Connor’s mother. “He’s hurt everyone in the family. We all have scars. Everything's broken.”
His father, Branden Campbell, is often touring with his band Neon Trees.
“Parenting Connor is not a spectator sport,” he said.
Much of Connor’s care when he’s away falls to Emilie Campbell.
“She’s super mom,” Branden Campbell said.
“It is exhausting,” Emilie Campbell said. “When Connor is home, it is nonstop hypervigilance, totally. It's all hands on deck. There’s no sitting, there's no relaxing.”
Branden Campbell joked, “We’re actually 25 years old; we just look 40.”
Connor had been having seizures every day since birth.
“Connor has intractable refractory idiopathic catastrophic epilepsy. All those big words,” Emilie Campbell said. “He also has autism.”
Those seizures have only gotten worse, causing him to miss months of school.
“He’s been on, you know, over 10 anti-seizure medications,” Emilie Campbell said.
After exhausting every resource, they found what works.
“We still have a few months before we’re really legal,” Emilie Campbell said, adding that medical marijuana controls his seizures. “It’s such a small amount and he takes it once a day.”
Here’s how and why the Legislature could change Proposition 2 — even if it passes
Proposition 2 is likely to pass. So how can the Legislature already have plans to change it?In the past, the Campbells have been active in advocating for change. However, the paradigm shift in how people think of marijuana is ongoing.
“We’ve had people ask, ‘So it's like ... like Cheech and Chong for your kids?'” Branden Campbell said. “And it's like ... ‘No, our kid that can’t even put on his shoes or change his pants or use the bathroom' isn’t going to sit and roll a joint.’”
Connor is improving at school.
“They said for the first time today that he was typing his name," Branden Campbell said. "They just see him paying attention and tuning in."
For the Campbells, the passage of Prop 2 is a huge relief. Soon, if Connor requires care in the emergency room, medical cannabis may be a treatment option. They’ll also no longer have to worry about possible prosecution.
“To see it really happen, and for Utah to come through, really was awesome. It felt like a total win,” Emilie Campbell said.
“It’s medicine,” Branden Campbell added. “Like anything else.”
