The mother of an autistic child went before Georgia lawmakers Monday, admitting she broke the law to get relief for her daughter.
Channel 2’s Lori Geary sat in on the first hearing of Georgia’s new medical marijuana bill that would allow the growing of medical marijuana in Georgia and expand the number of conditions patients need to qualify, including Alzheimer’s disease and autism.
- Special Section: Medical Marijuana in Georgia
Jennifer Conforti testified that she gets marijuana on the black market and turns it into cannabis oil for her 5-year-old daughter.
Supporters of the bill say these are the risks parents are willing to make in order for their children to get some sort of relief from a plant they call medicine.
Conforti said she knows she risks going to jail if she gets caught.
“You pretty much name the psych med, and she’s taken it. None of it worked,” Conforti said.
[READ: State lawmaker admits to breaking the law for medical marijuana]
Previously, Conforti admitted to Channel 2 Action News exclusively that she’s buying the level one illegal drug off the black market.
“I’m giving my daughter medical cannabis illegally in the state of Georgia,” Conforti admitted in front of Georgia lawmakers.
She was one of several parents and patients pleading with lawmakers to allow the growing of medical marijuana in Georgia.
“You cannot fathom, as a mother, to wish your child would just die, to think that if she died, she would be happy and at peace,” Conforti said in her emotional testimony.
[READ: Local lawmaker pre-files medical marijuana bill]
Conforti told lawmakers her daughter would rage, biting herself and others so severely she had to be restrained for hours.
Conforti looked at lawmakers and asked, “Have you ever been afraid to hold your child?”
It was one of several heartbreaking stories -- from young patients with rare diseases, to adults with multiple sclerosis.
Many of them can legally have a limited amount of medical marijuana in Georgia after a law passed last year, but it’s illegal for them to obtain it here.
They must travel out of state to get access, breaking federal and state laws.
[READ: Exclusive: Majority of Georgia Republicans support growing medical marijuana]
State Rep. Allen Peake, R-Macon, is considered the godfather of the medical marijuana movement in Georgia.
“It’s time to quit making criminals out of parents and citizens who only want to provide medicine for their sick children and for themselves," Peake told Geary.
“I did what I had to do to get my kid back,” Conforti testified.
Conforti told Geary she hasn't had to restrain her daughter since she started giving her cannabis oil 16 months ago.
Opponents of the bill are expected to get their chance to testify on Wednesday.
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