Columbia, SC (WTLX)- Three-year-old Raelyn Keefer is no stranger to strong seizure medications, having been prescribed several types to deal with the hundreds of epileptic seizures she was facing a day.
Often times, the medications would make her conditions worse and sometimes put her life in danger.
"It turned into tonic-clonic seizures that would not stop," Raelyn's mother Mandy Keefer said "The rescue medicines would stop her breathing, we'd be doing CPR, calling an ambulance, we did this very frequently."
With side effects and withdrawal symptoms that were taking a toll on her body, Keefer slowly began weaning Raelyn off of the prescription drugs.
"It's a benzodiazepine," Keefer said. "They say grown men go into rehab centers to try to get off these medicines, and they cant because the withdrawal is so bad."
In July 2015, she decided instead to try using CBD oils (Cannibidiols) on Raelyn as a rescue treatment when her seizures were bad.
"We gave it to her in the morning and then that night, we gave her another drop. Wfter that dose, she went seizure free for 3 months," Keefer said. "She just started changing, and the more that we get her off her seizure meds on top of it, the more alive she becomes."
Her neurologist Dr. Harley Morgan with USC pediatric neurology said he too has seen a significant improvement in Raelyn's health since taking the oils.
"It was frequent and now we rarely get a call from the mother," Morgan said. "It was clearly better, no question about."
While he doesn't have a strong opinion on medical marijuana (with THC) because it's not something he has experienced in pediatric neurology, he said it would be good to be able to prescribe the drug after seeing the positive effects of the CBD oil.
"She is more alert and part of which is a fall out with decreasing seizures," he said. "When you aren't having seizures all the time, your brain is ale to work better."
After seeing the drastic, positive effects of the CBD oil first hand, Keefer has joined with other families to push for the legalization of medical marijuana at the Statehouse.
The oil, which can be bought legally, is a substance derived from the marijuana plant. It doesn't contain the psychoactive ingredient THC, which is what could help Raelyn if her conditions worsen.
"I never would have imagined that I would be advocating for this three years ago, even two years ago, but it works," she said. "When you want your loved one to not suffer through these conditions, you'll do it. You'll do anything for your loved one."
The issue has gained more support this session, and lawmakers say it's only a matter of time before it is legalized.
"Both sides of the aisle; republicans and democrats are working together to see this become law," Rep. James Smith said. "What's changing is the amount of industry support for this and I think that's going to grow the votes in favor of this."
28 states and the District of Columbia have already legalized the medical use of marijuana.