When Christina Dixon from Oregon saw the suffering her 13-year-old daughter, Kylee was going through she decided to choose CBD and drop the chemotherapy.
When doctors told Dixon that they wanted to operate on Kylee and put her on chemotherapy to treat her liver cancer, the young Oregon mother was left with a dilemma. Dixon agreed to 6 months of chemo, but regretted that decision after she saw the effects on Kylee.
She ultimately decided to opt for CBD, a natural, non-psychoactive compound in cannabis, instead of the doctors’ recommendations. Dixon was taken into custody and held at the Clackamas County Jail for giving CBD to a minor and taking her off the chemotherapy. There she faces two charges; first-degree criminal mistreatment and first-degree custodial interference.
Dixon said that she believed that the CBD she was giving to her daughter daily was effective and that the natural compounds in the tincture was easing the pain for Kylee. Law enforcement claims that the mother and daughter left Oregon to avoid further chemotherapy and surgery at all costs.
The pair were later found at the Long Horn Casino & Hotel in Nevada. Kylee was instantly put under protective custody, and a month later, a judge ruled that the state could make vital medical decisions for the girl instead of her mother.
In court, the fact that Kylee told the judge that she agreed with her mother’s decision to take a natural alternative to chemical therapy had no bearing on the judge’s decision. At the same time, the family’s attorney, Rebecca Schaleger, explained to the judge that Kylee didn’t want surgery and felt better when she took CBD.
The other side of the coin, presented by the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) noted that CBD was potentially good to treat the symptoms of chemotherapy but not as a replacement for it. They argued that if she didn’t have surgery to remove the tumor on her liver, it would grow and possibly lead to death.
Dixon explained that Kylee had already undergone months of chemotherapy and that it had a terrible effect on the young girl. As Dixon told reporters, “The best way I can describe it is like my kid was on death row,” she said, according to KGW8. “Every single time — you literally feel your kid’s life getting taken away.”
Kylee even took to YouTube in an emotional video entitled, “I’m On Death Row For Surviving Cancer.” There she made a plea for help in her plight to take CBD over chemotherapy. However, as Judge Heather Karabeika of the Clackamas County Circuit Court said during the hearing, “I’m going to let the surgeons do what they need to do.” With that, the state immediately moved to get Kylee back to the hospital and to have the surgery.
The case of Kylee Dixon is indeed a tragic one and one that’s hard to put into words. For a mother to be arrested and penalized in this way for wanting to help her daughter in an alternative way has upset many people. That said, surgery to remove the tumor could be successful, and Kylee could lead a full and healthy life for many years. Only time will tell what the right decision in this case is.