Face of Cannabis portrait. Brooklyn suffered from intractable epilepsy and began having seizures at 3 months of age. (Nichole Montanez)
Face of Cannabis portrait. Brooklyn suffered from intractable epilepsy and began having seizures at 3 months of age. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. Cora was born with Macrocephaly-Capillary Malformation and began having seizures at 5 months of age. She lives in Colorado with her family and began using CBD in 2014. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. Lily suffers from Dravet Syndrome, SCN2a, Grin2b, Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum, Ventriculomegaly, Colpocephaly, Hydrocephalus, Dygenesis of the left frontal hemisphere, ESES, Autism, and Celiac Disease. Her parents were told at 26 weeks gestation that their baby was likely not going to survive the birth because her brain wouldn’t tell her body to take its first breath. Lily did take her first breath but started to seize immediately. After getting her diagnosis in 2014, the family relocated to Colorado from Wisconsin to try cannabis. They remain here and Lily is doing well. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. Maitri began having seizures at 5 1/2 years of age. She moved with her mother to Colorado from Vermont in 2014 so she could try CBD. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. 14-year-old Reggie suffered from Dentatorubral-Pallidoluysian Atrophy, a progressive brain disorder. His family relocated to Colorado from Florida to try CBD. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. Scout was born with cortical dysplasia. He suffered his first seizure at 10 months of age. The cause of the seizure was a lesion on the right side of his brain. A cyst was later discovered on the left side, and he underwent surgery to remove both of those when he was 3 years old. Scout lives in Idaho and took part in a Face of Cannabis photo shoot to help raise awareness and attempt to change laws. However, the use of medical cannabis in any form remains illegal in that state. (Nichole Montanez)Face of Cannabis portrait. Sydni suffers from Doose syndrome. She began having seizures at 4 years of age. Sydni’s was the first Face of Cannabis portrait, taken August 31, 2013. (Nichole Montanez)Brent, 54, hangs out near the racetrack at a fundraiser in Dallas for Epilepsy Foundation Texas. Brent suffers from epilepsy and made a trip to Colorado in 2014 to try cannabis. He found some relief with THCa. Since THCa was illegal in Texas, Brent and his family recently relocated to Colorado. (Nichole Montanez)Twelve-year-old Caden walks down an alley in downtown Colorado Springs, November 2015. Caden suffers from Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. His mother moved with her two young sons to Colorado in 2013 to treat Caden with CBD. The family has since returned to their home state of Georgia where laws have been changed to allow use of CBD in children with epilepsy. (Nichole Montanez)Five-year-old Charlotte uses her talking device at her home in Black Forest, Colo., in May 2013. Charlotte suffers from Dravet Syndrome and was featured in the 2013 CNN documentary “WEED” with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (Nichole Montanez)Four-year-old Declan waits for his oatmeal at his family home in Canon City; Colorado. Declan has Gomez and Lopez-Hernandez Syndrome. While in utero; his parents were told he would not survive. Yet; he did. The family relocated to Colorado from Georgia to try cannabis. (Nichole Montanez)Twelve-year-old Emily at her family home in Glendale, Calif. Emily suffers from Dravet Syndrome and had her first seizure at 5 months of age. (Nichole Montanez)Jennifer and Haley, both 15, walk up the Virginia state capitol stairs following a Face of Cannabis photo shoot in May 2015. Haley suffers from Dravet Syndrome and had her first seizure at 5 months of age. Jennifer, too, suffers from epilepsy and briefly moved to Colorado from Virginia in 2013 to try cannabis. She found relief from THCa and returned to her home state to fight for cannabis reform. Both girls, along with their mothers, were among the children instrumental in changing medical cannabis laws in the state of Virginia. (Nichole Montanez)Kaitlyn holds her daughter Kennedee, 3, at their home in Fountain, Colo., Oct. 22, 2014. These would be the last photos of Kennedee. Her parents had just initiated hospice and taken their daughter home. Walker Warburge Syndrome had already claimed the life of her sister at the age of 2 months. When Kennedee was born with the same syndrome, she was sent home on hospice and survived for longer than expected. Her parents credit CBD for improving her quality of life during her last year. (Nichole Montanez)Nine-year-old Maddie stop to feel the pavement in an alley in downtown Colorado Springs in October 2015. Maddie suffers from Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome. She and her mother moved to Colorado from North Carolina to try CBD. (Nichole Montanez)Hailey, aka “Teapot,” adjusts her tiara at her 10th birthday party in Colorado Springs, Colo., Jan. 31, 2016. Teapot suffers from Dravet Syndrome. She is the niece of the Face of Cannabis artist and the inspiration behind the project. Cannabis was not Hailey’s answer. Her mother still believes in cannabis as a viable treatment, though, it wasn’t right for her as she was entering puberty. It was also not working in combination with her current medications. (Nichole Montanez)Seven-year-old Emily is ready for her Face of Cannabis portrait in San Antonio, Texas, in September 2015. At the time of this photo shoot, CBD was illegal in the state of Texas. Cannabis laws in Texas have since changed to allow CBD. Children like Emily were at the forefront of the movement. (Nichole Montanez)Thirteen-year-old Tyler get a tour of the CW Botanicals lab to see where his oil is made in Boulder, Colo., on Oct. 22, 2015. (Nichole Montanez)Ten-year-old Zaki runs through the hemp plants at the Stanley Brothers grow in September; 2013. He’d already been almost one year seizure-free on CBD oil. Zaki suffers from Doose Syndrome and began having seizures at 4 months of age. Zaki began taking CBD oil before all of the media attention brought hundreds of kids to Colorado. He was the second child to use Charlotte’s Web and remained seizure free for 4 years. (Nichole Montanez)
