When Spanish Fork resident Tenille Farr was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma last year, she and her family faced a tough decision. She not only had cancer but was also pregnant. Doctors told her that chemotherapy could help the condition. However, she was also warned that the treatment could risk either a premature delivery or the loss of her baby. In a video posted to IllegallyHealed.com, Farr related how after consideration, she and her husband felt that they should give medical cannabis a try.
“I felt like I had gotten my answer loud and clear: ‘yes, Tenille, you should use this for your cancer,’” she said. “I knew it was illegal in Utah but there was a sweet lady whose husband had just died of cancer in Colorado and who had called and offered me her apartment.”
After temporarily moving to Colorado for six weeks, where cannabis use is allowed, Farr claimed that her cancer had ceased to grow. She said that it was difficult to leave her family in order to receive the treatment.
“After those six weeks was over, I went home and had some tests done and my cancer hadn’t grown at all,” Farr said. “I had to leave my four boys and my husband and it was really hard to leave them, especially to just juice a leaf that doesn’t have any effect on me.”
The video, which has gone viral, is the first in a series by Illegally Healed sharing the experiences of Utahns who have used medical cannabis. Farr’s experience was included as testimony during this year’s state legislative session in support of SB259. The bill, introduced by Saratoga Springs Republican Sen. Mark Madsen, would have legalized medical cannabis. The proposal was defeated in the in Senate by one vote.
