In what is believed to be the first of its kind, researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus are about to study the genes of those suffering with one particular kind of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome. They will study these patients whom have been treated with a strain of medical cannabis known as Charlotte’s Web. In this research they will decipher whether specific genetic components can determine why some epilepsy patients achieve positive results from ingesting Charlotte’s Web, and others do not.

Grown in Colorado by five brothers, a non-profit organisation called Realm of Caring will support this endeavour. Charlotte’s web is a medicinal cannabis plant; that is low in THC, the cannabinoid known to produce marijuana’s psychoactive effects. In contrast, it is very high in CBD; the cannabinoid believed to reduce seizures in those suffering from certain forms of epilepsy. It is administered to patients with epilepsy, including some children, and it comes in the form of oil. The plant is named after Charlotte Fiji. This young girl was the first epilepsy patient that was successfully treated with this particular strain.

While anecdotal evidence suggests that Charlotte’s Web can be highly effective in treating these conditions, scientific investigation of the cannabinoid product has been slowed down significantly by federal drug laws which set boundaries on the research. Edward Maa, who is the principal investigator of Charlotte’s Web Study, explains that a new trial would be a first step toward building a body of research and evidence regarding how and why medical cannabis results in an efficient treatment for epilepsy. “This is the first attempt to get the information people are interested in that is observational in nature,” says Maa, the assistant professor at the CU School of Medicine and Chief of the Comprehensive Epilepsy Programs at Denver Health.

The new study will recruit patients suffering from epilepsy who have already taken Charlotte’s Web. The patients in the study will be divided into two groups—those who have observed seizure activity reduced by at least 50 percent using Charlotte’s Web and those who have had minimal to no results from taking the cannabis oil. Genetic analysis of the patients within both groups will then hopefully identify what genetic components cause a patient to be responsive to the medical cannabis treatment.

Researchers on the CU Anschutz team will collect and review the data including the dosages used by patients in the study, in hopes that further research will be fulfilled down the line. With further data that we can collect in a large sample, the closer we will be to discovering truth explains Maa. This study could result in genetic screening in children with Dravet Syndrome before taking Charlotte’s Web. This would indicate to parents ahead of time whether their children would benefit in this particular epilepsy treatment. It’s possible to conduct the study in Colorado because Charlotte’s Web is grown there legally. It is also home to many families who have relocated to the state specifically in the access for this medicinal strain of cannabis.

Recruiting for the new study has already begun and will be collected until February 2016.