Written by In October of 2006 the sun rose upon Colorado as a young child prepared to visit us on Earth – Charlotte Figi was born 10/18/2006. Little did anyone in her family know that her name would someday be on the tips of 100’s of millions tongues as they speak about the beautiful Hemp and Cannabis plants and how they help everyone – especially the kids. On April 7th we’ll remember what she gave to this world on a date set aside for her.
She needs no introduction as she’s a legend of her own kind. In my heart she’ll always hold a very special and somewhat private place as without her I likely wouldn’t be around. Her influence led to knowledge that ended a life of seizures and began one that includes helping kids like her also become free from brutal neurological disorders and more.
Early in September 2013 as a Civil Rights litigator often I overworked myself. On the 8th my life changed forever after a bad seizure injured ab muscles that required surgical repair. The day it happened I thought I was being given a Chinese herb by a Korean roommate – instead it was Cannabidiol.
For over a week I took the resin balls – one day I tossed them out and then found out it what I was being given was the same thing that the “little girl in Colorado is using” as I told my roommates. Of course I was talking about Charlotte Figi who was in a U.K. Daily Mail article in the Summer of 2013 with her mom, Paige. It was the first in depth read I did but I moved on knowing the source wasn’t the best.
I found her everywhere and I kept on reading that night – I stayed up until 3 am calling friends and on social media searching. “Where can I find that little girl’s plant or the oil like it” I’d ask people. Keep in mind I was a stoner type back then but didn’t appear that way – most of my friends worked in law or were from the past. The drive and determination was there and it was fueled by a child I knew had overcome what was plaguing me – I just had to be like Charlotte. I needed freedom from severe refractory epilepsy that had plagued me since a pro auto racing wreck in 1995.
Charlotte went on to take the world by storm with her smile throughout the ‘Weed’ series done by Dr. Sanjay Gupta of CNN that highlighted how Cannabis helped children. What I read in multiple small articles in what was the beginning of ‘Realm of Caring’ didn’t have the in depth information available in the later media but it was enough to make me look to one tiny icon as a ways to an end.
Seizures controlling your life is no fun game – it doesn’t matter what your age is the desperation to end that is incredible. The depression and anxiety that come with having Epilepsy is something I still battle even with an incredibly changed life – because on the day that I discovered Charlotte Figi I also discovered that I could be free.
In the following YouTube video I talk to a journalist in his Cannabis Garden about the events that led up to all of this – and all about how I thought my roommate was saying ‘can’t eat at all’ instead of Cannabidiol – as I didn’t know much about what CBD even was back then.
Charlotte had what’s known as Dravet syndrome – which is a rare form of epilepsy that’s not controlled well by medication. It’s a scary diagnosis that many kids perish to so the fight for her life had began far before any type of plant medicine. Many know her from the association with the Charlotte’s Web the CBD Oil that’s sold around the world bearing her name and made after the plant the Stanley Brothers in Colorado created for her.
Reports indicated that after Charlotte began taking CBD oil, there was a sharp decline in seizures. CNN and others documented with her mom how she began to play again unlike anything before and how she would eat and gained mobility. Her life changed because of the plant and mine did because I recognized her face – one that we must never forget.
Tuesday April 7th, 2020 at age 13 – Charlotte who had recently been hospitalized due to pneumonia, breathing problems and seizures, died. A family is still mourning, a world weeps, and a plant remains hers namesake. I celebrate her life by continuing what I did shortly after I found out who she was – giving the plant and what comes from it away to those in need.
I wrote this article on the day she perished:
A benefit concert is being held as a memorial for her – Rock the RoC is a virtual benefit concert hosted by the high-impact nonprofit Realm of Caring (RoC) to celebrate and pay tribute to Charlotte and memorialize her remembrance day on April 7th, 2021.
Shortly after Charlotte’s death, cannabis advocates called on Governor Jared Polis, a vocal supporter of hemp and medical marijuana, to do something to recognize her impact. In response, Polis has issued an executive order proclaiming April 7 Charlotte Figi Day in Colorado.
“Whereas, on April 7th, 2020 Charlotte Figi passed away, having left the world with a life-changing story of overcoming adversity through courage and grace, impacting the lives of many millions whose wellness and dignity was in part made possible by Charlotte and the Figi family’s devotion to finding a therapy, the great and loving State of Colorado shall honor her life and encompass her journey through our continued dedication to unearthing solutions, discovering community strength, and embodying the love of Charlotte,” the proclamation reads. “Therefore, I, Jared Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado, do hereby proclaim April 7 forevermore as Charlotte Figi Day in the State of Colorado.”
With her passing Charlotte left a legacy of people that have healed. The number of lives in nations all over the world that were affected by just one child is incredible – and without a doubt I’m on that long list. There’s families who’s children and loved one’s fighting illnesses were able to find an answer because of the bold vision that Charlotte’s parents and so many others that followed in their footsteps had.
An era is defined as a long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic. A girl who just wanted to live like other kids and a family willing to follow the lead given to them and use a plant for the answer created the Era of Hemp Healing that started far before Charlotte but needed her to cement it in stone forever more.
When I think of what she gave to the Industry the answer ‘nothing’ comes to mind because her gift wasn’t to an income making machine – it was to the human race. She had a smile that lifted hearts with it’s bright shine – her spirit was one that seemed to be unhinged by the chaos and sheer brutality of life with Dravet Syndrome.
We now have the Farm Bill and many wonder what’s next on the list in the world of Cannabis. Generally I’m not one that looks in the rear view a whole lot, but on Wednesday April 7th I’ll be looking back to the memories of the little girl that was part of my world changing forever.
Rest In Peace Angel – You’ll be forever missed.
Mike Robinson, Medicinal Cannabis Patient. Founder Global Cannabinoid Research Center. But, most of all, Genevieve’s Daddy
