Annette Maughan waits and holds her son Glenn, who has epilepsy, after she obtained a hemp oil card at the Utah Department of Health in Salt Lake City Tuesday, July 8, 2014. During the 2014 Legislature, lawmakers passed HB105, allowing individuals who are being treated for intractable epilepsy to possess hemp extract as a means of treating their disease.
Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY Annette Maughan looks forward to the day when her 11-year-old son, Glenn, who has a rare form of epilepsy, will be able to play hide-and-seek with his siblings like he did when he was 3.
It's a sight she hasn't seen in the better part of a decade. But Tuesday brought renewed hope, she said, of what may lie ahead for her son.
Maughan, who is president of the Epilepsy Association of Utah, and several other parents obtained a hemp extract registration card Tuesday at the Utah Department of Health, the first day the cards were offered.
The card allows for legal possession and use of hemp extract, a non-intoxicating cannabis oil taken from specially bred marijuana plants, for the treatment of epileptic seizures.
For Maughan, it's one step closer to getting her son back at least how he was at 3 years old.
"This is probably the single biggest day of his life," she said. "This is huge for him. The hemp oil promise for him is life-changing."
HB105, which was signed into law in March, legalized the medicinal use of hemp extract in the state and allowed for analysis of the treatment at medical research institutions.
Bill sponsor Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, said those who oppose the use of hemp extract in Utah do so mostly because they don't understand the product and how it is used.
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Hemp oil registration cards bring hope for families