grown compliant with section 7606 of the federal farm bill. Janel entered into the cannabis industry as a parent advocate after her research led her to the discovery that CBD sourced from the Cannabis Sativa L plant would potentially be of benefit to her child, Harmony, who suffers from a rare genetic condition called, Lissencephaly. After several failed attempts to obtain safe, tested, CBD-rich oil for her child, she decided she would become the source. Since Janel’s introducing this high CBD/low THC oil into her daughter’s life, Harmony has gained a quality of life that no synthetic drugs had ever provided her. After seeing her child’s own success, Janel made it her mission to help offer the same to all, and that is how Palmetto Synergistic Research & Palmetto Harmony were born. Her company today deals with thousands of people who have benefitted in some way from the cannabis plant and is wanting to donate her time to help advance this cause to allow access to South Carolina residents to the full plant under a comprehensive medical program.

She is severely delayed across the board with an extremely short attention span and aggressive behavior outbursts. After being on anti-psychotic medication for several years she began involuntary movements of her mouth, which may have become permanent due to the medication. Whole plant CBD oil has made possible for Kira to participate in group settings without causing harm to herself or friends, but we understand that if she had full access to all the cannabis plant she could possibly have a more complete quality of life. That is why we are fighting for a comprehensive Medical Cannabis bill in South Carolina for her and others that can benefit from this healing plant.

After getting out of the Army my family and I moved from Alaska, which was my last duty station, to Myrtle Beach. My youngest daughter Harmony Newsom was born in Myrtle Beach. Unfortunately, she was born with a very rare genetic condition called Lissencephaly.

I vividly remember watching my father cry one day because he felt like he was sinning in Gods eyes for possessing marijuana.

Using cannabis, Halle has gone from 1-2 big seizures per week to 1-2 per month and sometimes less. She’s been able to come down 30% on a traditional seizure med that harms her vision. Since starting to take hemp-based cannabis, Halle has been awake more, done better in therapy and had more life in her eyes!  Her mom and dad are huge advocates for her and cannabis.

I was on the 101st Airborne Division Color Guard before being accepted for Flight School. Upon Graduation from Flight School at Fort Rucker, AL I was a Warrant Officer, Helicopter Pilot, for 4 years serving on several deployments. I left the US Army in 1986. I worked for myself flipping paper and then working in the Mortgage Business. I also worked in the Construction Industry. I most recently worked for the US Census Bureau, first as a Field Representative, and then as a Field Supervisor. I am a District Captain for 4 SC House Districts for the Convention of States Project and I advocate for Medical Marijuana in SC.

He was diagnosed with Generalized Epilepsy and has had almost 100 seizures since that time… Watching him and my aunt endure the pain of not knowing what, when, or why the next one will strike is the most difficult way to “live” life. Medical research has proven that cannabinoids along with THC possess healing properties to enable patients to live without pain.

In college I studied Neuroscience, focusing on the brain’s relationship to behavior, and after college I performed analytical studies on medical devices and pharmaceuticals. I began to learn of the stories of the restorative capabilities of cannabis in legal states and observed the negative effect on the black market. I have found relief from many plant based remedies and see Cannabis in the same light. It is a plant that has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries. It benefits families legally in the majority of states now and I feel our families in SC deserve a product that they can trust; a product that is lab tested, overseen by our doctors and actually works.

While trying to find a natural remedy to help my 17-year old cat with pain from arthritis I stumbled across the Endocannabinoid System and learned how cannabis works in the body.  The Endocannabinoid System is perhaps the most important physiologic system involved in establishing and maintaining human health.  My passion is helping people understand how the Endocannabinoid System works and how we can supplement this system with the use of Cannabis.  In 2016 I founded TAMCo, LLC, a Columbia, SC brokerage firm specializing in sales and education of whole-plant hemp extracts.  I believe that South Carolinians should have the option of deciding with their medical professional if safe access to medical cannabis is an appropriate option for their treatment.

I graduated from West Virginia University College of Law in 2001.  Growing up in Charleston, West Virginia I had a front row seat watching family members endure the daily pain of opioid addiction, including losing their lives and their children.  I watched as their addictions consumed their lives and fundamentally changed who they were as people.  But my history also includes spending time on my grandparents’ farm where I learned the value and importance of using the benefits of nature in a balanced and sustainable way.  The position that a patient cannot use a plant created by God to ease his/her daily suffering is counterintuitive to me. Decades of propaganda have told us to blindly accept that cannabis has no medicinal value.  But that ignores thousands of studies and 5,000 years of history that reveals cannabis to be an effective treatment for many debilitating medical conditions.  A parent of a child suffering from intractable, daily seizures, a child of a parent suffering from ALS, a young mother dying of breast cancer, or a combat veteran who cannot escape the flashbacks of war all deserve the right and opportunity to ease their own suffering.  Patients and their caregivers should not risk jail time to alleviate suffering or to have some semblance of a normal life.  Laws prohibiting the sick and dying from using medical cannabis to their benefit tells those same patients that they are not entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  This is an unacceptable proposition to me as a lawyer. For many patients medical cannabis can provide relief and that should be a decision made within the confines of the physician-patient relationship.  Non-clinicians should not be making clinical decisions, yet this is what the current law does.  Changing South Carolina law to enable patients to use medical cannabis to treat their debilitating medical conditions is the right thing to do now.