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Medical Marijuana "Refugee" Cyndimae Meehan Dies Unexpectedly in Maine

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13 year-old Cyndimae Meehan died Sunday at her home in Augusta, Maine from Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy.

A 13-year-old girl who became the face of the movement in Connecticut to provide medical marijuana to sick children died suddenly on Sunday. 

Cyndimae Meehan had a rare from of epilepsy called Dravet's syndrome, which caused her to have hundreds of small seizures a day.

FDA-approved medication seemed to worsen Cyndimae's condition, so her parents decided to leave their home in Montville, and move to Maine, where children can be prescribed medical marijuana.  

The results were dramatic: according Cyndimae's mother Susan, almost overnight, her daughter's seizures virtually stopped, and she was able to stop using a wheelchair by taking a tincture of marijuana oil.

Her daughter's improvement led Meehan to became a passionate proponent of medical marijuana for children, testifying last year on legislation that would allow kids with certain medical conditions to be prescribed pot. That bill did not pass, but just two weeks ago, Susan and her daughter Cyndimae were back at the Capitol testifying on a similar bill this session.

'"Connecticut legislators have a responsibility to these families who have children who hide at home due to seizures, whose children turn blue, and their mother wonders, is this the seizure that kills him? Save these children the trauma of running from their homes like Cyndimae," Susan Meehan told the legislature's Public Health Committee.

According to The Portland Press-Herald, Cyndimae died Sunday of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy at her home in Augusta, Maine. 

Ray Hardman is Connecticut Public’s Arts and Culture Reporter. He is the host of CPTV’s Emmy-nominated original series Where Art Thou? Listeners to Connecticut Public Radio may know Ray as the local voice of Morning Edition, and later of All Things Considered.

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