Fake Image Pushing Medical Pot Goes Viral

The above image made the rounds through my Facebook feed today. It cropped up in a half-dozen crunchy mom groups and on the timelines of twelve of my friends. All these groups and individuals have different backgrounds and many don't know each other. They share one trait in common: an interest in alternative medicine, including medical cannabis.

It should have been a red flag that the image's main source was Tommy Chong, the pseudonym of a self-identified comedian whose sense of humor amounts to, "LOL, weed." Prior to that-- and only slightly less suspiciously-- it had appeared two years ago on Green CulturED, "the world's leading cannabis college." These are not unbiased sources with the goal of promoting children's health. They're Facebook pages for stoners.

Perhaps, if the boy pictured had actually survived cancer in part because of medical cannabis, there would be good reason to share the photo. Medical marijuana use for children, particularly those with severe forms of epilepsy, is a fast-growing topic of research. That's why, this year, the American Academy of Pediatrics updated their policy on medical marijuana to make room for its use for children "with severely debilitating conditions for whom current therapies are inadequate."

While opposing recreational marijuana and warning against pot's use as anything other than a last-resort treatment for children with very serious illnesses, science leaves wiggle-room for the experimental use of medical cannabis for very sick kids. And that's a good thing, particularly for the crowds of families who have been moving to Colorado in desperate search of treatment options for their children with severe forms of epilepsy.

The problem is that the child pictured didn't survive cancer because of cannabis. He never used it. The boy pictured is Liam Fitzgerald, who fought acute lymphoblastic leukemia from age five to age nine. By the time he had his final round of chemotherapy, he had spent nearly half of his life fighting cancer. In 2013, his parents posted this photo to celebrate:

Notice that there's no mention of medical marijuana or any other form of alternative medicine. That's because Liam, who has Down syndrome, wasn't treated with alt-med, but with intensive treatment in conventional hospitals with the most powerful, state-of-the-art, mainstream medicine available. His battle was a long and hard one. His mother wrote:

"There were multiple visits to the emergency room, seizures, fevers, infections and endless ongoing treatments and medications. For the next 4 years, our life wasn't our own but dedicated to making our son healthy again.

People would say, "how do you deal with all of this and work and raise the rest of your family." The answer is simple - you just DO! You don't have a choice - this is your child and you will do anything you can for them. Although this illness and experience was difficult, it also had a lot of positive aspects to it. There are the people you meet along the way - some just like you who are on the same journey. The journey that made all of us a lot stronger along the way. The journey where faith, family and friends were such a critical part of our lives and our support. The journey where we met so many wonderful people - like the doctors, nurses and other parents dealing with similar and in many cases much more difficult childhood cancers.

Liam's recovery happened because his parents trusted the scientific community and leaned on their family, friends, and spirituality for support. Pot had nothing to do with it, and Photoshopping the sign he held is unfair to him and to the many people who used science-based medicine to save him.

It is cruel, and dangerous, to deliberately attribute a child's cancer recovery to a treatment that he did not use. It's particularly cruel when it's done by people who are promoting marijuana's legalization not just as medicine, but as a recreational drug. If you want pot to be legalized so you can get high, say that you want pot to be legalized so you can get high. Don't exploit a sick child in the process.