When Evan Crudup was just 4, he suddenly lost all of his language and began to daydream (later identified as seizures). His mom, Nicole, watched her easy-going, happy child struggle both physically and emotionally rather quickly, eventually leading to a diagnosis of a rare form of epilepsy called Landau-Kleffner Syndrome.

Despite more than 10-plus medications to control his hundreds of seizures a day, it wasn’t until this year—four years after his initial diagnosis—that he found relief. The miracle drug his mother credits is Epidiolex, or Cannabinol, a CBD oral solution approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December 2018 to treat various forms of seizures.

Epidiolex is the first FDA-approved drug that contains a purified drug substance derived from marijuana and it must be prescribed only by a pediatric neurologist. According to the FDA, the medication produces anticonvulsant affects without an accompanying psychogenic high.

After a few months of being on the medication and finding the “sweet spot” of the correct dosing, Nicole says Evan’s seizures drastically dropped, and he began talking again.

“He is like a different kid,” she says. “He isn’t doped up all the time, he is talking and happy. It’s been amazing to see his personality blossom again.”

Nicole is just one of many parents of children with special needs who have turned to CBD to treat her child’s symptoms. While controversial, the media hype surrounding these products, coupled with the success stories, have led many parents down this avenue.

Dr. Rahul Khare is the founder of Innovative Wellness, a medical cannabis consulting practice and CBD retail store in Lincoln Park, and an emergency medicine physician at