VANCOUVER — A Chilliwack, B.C., couplecouple who say their lives were saved by cannabis oil are fighting for the right to treat their severely ill baby with the substance.
Justin Pierce and Michelle Arnold, both 21, suffer from epilepsy, and their daughter Mary Jane Pierce was born premature at 25 weeks.
The four-and-a-half-month-old girl has been in hospital since she was born with serious health problems including brain bleeding, cerebral palsy and severe seizures.
She is on life support and the couple says the Ministry of Children and Family Development pressured them into giving up custody.
A judge granted a temporary injunction preventing the ministry from taking the baby off life support last week, and the ministry has since agreed not to do so without the parents' consent.
Doctors recently stopped giving Mary Jane cannabis oil, even though her parents claim it was reducing her seizures, and they are now seeking a court order to resume the treatment.