Parents face charge after giving teen marijuana to treat alleged seizures

David Brill, who reportedly suffers from near-constant seizures, allegedly went 71 days without one after he began smoking marijuana several times per day. (GoFundMe)

A Georgia family has been torn apart after authorities placed a 15-year-old teen in a group home following a tip from his therapist that his parents gave him marijuana in an effort to control his seizures.

David Brill, whose parents Suzeanna and Matthew spent six days in jail after their arrest, allegedly suffers from near-constant seizures.

The couple maintains that marijuana kept him seizure-free for 71 days, until Twiggs County sheriff’s deputies knocked on their door and told them to stop. The couple said they obliged, only for Brill’s seizures to return just hours later.

“Within 14 hours of complying we were rushing our son to the hospital,” Suzeanna Brill told The New York Times. “And it was one of the most horrific seizures I’ve ever seen.”

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In April, Brill was taken into custody by the state Department of Family and Children Services following an order from a juvenile court judge. He has been separated from his service dog, and is only allowed to communicate with his parents through phone calls and short visits, 13WMAZ.com reported

In early May, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a bill that adds PTSD and intractable pain to a list of medical conditions that are eligible to be treated with cannabis oil. Late-stage cancer patients and those suffering from seizure disorders are also eligible to seek cannabis oil treatment, but state law still bans growing, buying or transporting marijuana.

“Marijuana is still illegal to possess or use in the state of Georgia,” Twiggs County Sheriff Darren Mitchum said Thursday. “That includes allowing or giving it to children to ingest or smoke.”

But the Brills said they were just doing what any parent would to save their son, and that they would do it again if it meant bettering his health.

“Nothing else was working,” Suzeanna Brill told 13WMAZ. “I can’t have my kid dying because no one wants to listen.”

The Brills have started a GoFundMe page to help pay for a lawyer and move to a state where marijuana is legal.