VOA慢速英语:Marijuana Helps Children with Epilepsy

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.
来自美国之音慢速英语，这里是健康报道。
In the eyes of the United States federal government marijuana is an illegal drug. But almost half of the U.S. states have made marijuana use legal or at least a minor crime.
在美国联邦政府眼中，大麻是一种非法药物。但是美国几乎一半的州已经确定使用大麻合法，或者至少认为只是一种轻罪。

People who support legalization of marijuana say some kinds of the plant offer extraordinary help for human health. For example, one kind of medical marijuana is reported to ease effects of epilepsy, a disease of the nervous system.
支持大麻合法化的人们称，某些种类的植物能够给人类健康提供特殊帮助。例如，据报道一种医用大麻可以缓解癫痫症状。癫痫是一种神经系统疾病。

Rachael and Shawn Selmeski are happy that their baby girl, Maggie, can hold up her head. That is a normal mark of growth for a four month old child. But Maggie is two years old.
Rachael和Shawn Selmeski很高兴他们的小女儿Maggie能够抬起头。这是四个月大孩子成长的正常标志。但是Maggie已经两岁了。

Maggie's father says that simple act is a huge step -- or what he calls a milestone -- for his special needs daughter.
Maggie的父亲称，这样简单的动作对他这位有特殊需求的女儿来说，都是一个巨大的进步，他称之为一个里程碑。

"They're inch stones [[small steps]] in the big picture, but they're milestones for our children, for our special needs kids."
他说，“这些小进步，但对我们这位有着特殊需求的孩子来说就是里程碑。”

Maggie has spent much of her life in the hospital. Shortly after birth, doctors found that Maggie has a rare form of epilepsy. Epilepsy can cause people to suddenly become unconscious. It also can cause violent, uncontrolled movements of the body called seizures.
Maggie耗费了她生命中的许多时间在医院里。出生后不久，医生就发现Maggie患有一种罕见的癫痫。癫痫会使人突然陷入昏迷状态，也可能会引发剧烈的、不受控制的身体动作，这被称之为癫痫发作。

Maggie's kind of epilepsy can cause hundreds of seizures in a single day. Her parents hurried her to the hospital emergency room many times in the first year of her life. Doctors administered treatments and medicines to save her life. But Mr. Selmeski says these treatments also had other severe effects on his little girl.
Maggie这种癫痫一天内能发作数百次。在她一岁那年，她的父母多次将她紧急送往医院急诊室。医生使用治疗和药物来挽救她的生命。但是Selmeski先生称，这些治疗对他们的小女儿会产生其它严重后果。

"They drugged her up. She would sleep for 20 hours a day, and wouldn't make a noise all day long. They sedated every part of her body."
他说，“他们用药让她晕迷。她每天会睡上20个小时，一整天都不会发出一点声音。他们让她身体的每个部分都镇静了下来。

The Selmeskis wanted treatment with fewer of these unwanted side-effects. So they turned to a new kind of medicinal marijuana called Charlotte's Web. Marijuana growers in the U.S. state of Colorado developed the plant.
Selmeskis一家希望能有一种副作用更小的治疗办法。所以他们转向了一种被称之为“夏洛特的网”的新型医用大麻。美国科罗拉多州的大麻种植者种植出这种植物。

Doctor's Advice? Move to Colorado.
医生的建议呢是什么？搬到科罗拉多州去。

Marijuana is legal in Colorado but not in Tennessee where the Selmeskis lived. Maggie's doctors could not order marijuana as a treatment. So, they urged the Semelskis to do something extreme -- head west.
大麻在科罗拉多州是合法的，但在Selmeskis一家居住的田纳西州却不是。Maggie的医生无法将大麻用作治疗。所以他们鼓励Semelskis一家极端一点，搬到西边的科罗拉多州去。

One year ago, the family moved to Colorado. They began giving Maggie Charlotte's Web marijuana mixed with olive oil three times a day. The Semelskis say Maggie's condition improved immediately. She could digest food better. She began developing more muscle. And they say she began to smile more.
一年前，这家人搬到了科罗拉多州。他们将“夏洛特的网”和橄榄油混合，每天三次给Maggie服用。Semelskis一家表示，Maggie的病情立即有所好转。她可以更好地消化食物，并开始长出更多肌肉。他们还说，她开始笑得多了。

Charlotte's Web contains very little of the chemical THC that gives marijuana users a high feeling. But chemist Bryson Rast says that Charlotte's Web is loaded with another chemical, cannabidiol, also known as CBD. The chemical cannabidiol is an anti-inflammatory, meaning it reduces pain and swelling in the body.
“夏洛特的网”含有非常少的四氢大麻酚，这种化学成分可以给大麻使用者带来快感。但是化学家Bryson Rast称，“夏洛特的网”还包含另一种化学成分——大麻二酚，也被称之为CBD。大麻二酚是一种消炎药，这意味着它可以减轻身体的疼痛和肿胀。

Edward Maa is a brain doctor. He says he would like to compare this high CBD medicinal marijuana to federally approved drugs for epilepsy. But, the only marijuana that he may legally study is old, or out-of-date.
Edward Maa是一位脑科医生，他说，他希望将这种具有很高CBD成分的医用大麻和联邦政府批准用于治疗癫痫的药物进行比较。但是他唯一可以合法研究的大麻已经过时了。

Mr. Maa says it is time for the federal government to support research into Charlotte's Web. He says he does not care about the political effects or personal emotions around the medicinal marijuana debate.
Maa先生说，联邦政府是时候开始支持研究“夏洛特的网”了。他说，他并不关心围绕医用大麻辩论的政治影响或个人情绪。

"I don't care about the political implications or any of the emotional baggage that it carries. If it works, I'd like to be able to use it."
他说，“我不关心它所承载的政治影响或个人情感。如果它有效，我希望能用它来治疗。”

Most parents will do just about anything to help lessen the suffering of their children. About two hundred families have moved to Colorado from other parts of the country just to get Charlotte's Web for their epileptic children.
大多数家长会做任何事情来帮助减轻孩子痛苦。为了让其癫痫患儿能够得到“夏洛特的网”，200多个家庭已经从美国其它地方搬到了科罗拉多州。

The Selmeskis say they hope that growing interest and knowledge of marijuana's medical value will lead to federal support for more research.
Selmeskis一家称，他们希望随着人们对大麻医学价值的兴趣和知识的不断增长，能够让联邦政府对此进行更多研究。