JEFFERSONVILLE, GA – The ACLU of Georgia has filed an amicus brief in Twiggs County Juvenile Court in support of Suzeanna and Matthew Brill to protect their fundamental right to parent and obtain the medical treatment they need for their chronically ill son, who suffers from daily epileptic seizures. The brief asks the Court to reunite the parents with their child immediately.
The Brills had sought the care of a doctor, administered the prescribed medicine, and turned to the only legal form of medical marijuana in Georgia – THC oil. None of it worked. To end the horror of helplessly watching their child convulse several times a day, the Brills treated their son’s epilepsy in the only way proven to be most effective: smoking the plant itself which immediately stopped his seizures.
For over 70 days, he remained seizure-free as a result of his parents’ decision to medicate him with marijuana. Yet, Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum arrested and jailed the Briggs on April 20, 2018, which resulted in their chronically ill son being ripped from them and placed in government custody without the only medicine that had stopped the seizures. That very day, their 15-year old son suffered a seizure, was hospitalized, and flatlined 15 times.
“Georgia is tearing vulnerable children away from their parents and placing them in danger based on inexcusable ignorance about the proven medical benefits of marijuana use,” stated Sean J. Young, Legal Director of the ACLU of Georgia. "Already, 31 states have passed comprehensive medical marijuana reform that would have allowed the Brills to give their son the necessary medical treatment he urgently needs. Georgia needs to join the rest of the country and pass comprehensive medical marijuana reform before we put any more lives at risk.”
The ACLU of Georgia’s amicus brief “urges this Court to return [the son] back to his rightful home with parents who love him and want nothing but the very best to help him live and lead a healthy and happy life.”
