R.I.P., Charlotte Figi
Charlotte Figi became a catalyst for medical marijuana around the globe in 2013, when she appeared on Dr. Sanjay Gupta's
Weed documentary on CNN. Gupta had doubted medical marijuana's efficacy until he met Figi, a toddler who suffered from Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that can cause extreme seizures. Figi was treated with CBD oil extracted from a non-intoxicating strain of marijuana in 2012, and eventually no longer required a feeding tube to eat; her family reported that CBD nearly eliminated her seizures. The growers of the strain of high-CBD marijuana she used later named the strain Charlotte's Web and their company CW Hemp in her honor. Other patients moved to Colorado for the same treatment, helping to create the phrase "medical marijuana refugee."