Alexis Bortell is an 11-year old girl from North Texas who is suing the United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions, as well as the Drug Enforcement Administration in order to legalize medical marijuana.
Bortell is now in Colorado because of Colorado’s marijuana legalization and is able to use cannabis to help control her seizures.
“I just want kids like me to be able to do what normal kids are able to do,” Bortell told WFAA in a Skype interview from her home.
Bortell uses a blend of THC and CBD cannabis oil to help her medical condition. She has said, “I haven’t had a seizure in 866 days.”
“For me, my grandparents live in Texas and I can go there, but I can’t stay the night with them. I can’t have my medicine in Texas,” she explained. She may not even be able to go on a class trip to Washington, D.C. due to laws.
She is one among many plaintiffs that are asking a federal court in New York to reclassify marijuana from a Schedule I drug and legalize it as a medicine.
“This is the first lawsuit of its kind in the sense that we are making arguments under the 5th Amendment due process clause, we are making arguments under the commerce clause, we are making arguments under the 10th Amendment,” said attorney Michael Hiller.
