"When Sierra Riddle stormed into the conference room at Denvers child protective services office the director of the agency was seated there along with her sons team of doctors top administrators from the Childrens Hospital Colorado oncology department and lawyers. She recalls looking one of the physicians in the eye defiant. Im done with this shit she remembers saying. Im done with you guys bullying us. Then she took out a bag and dumped the contents on the table nine months of cancer drugs prescribed to her son Landon who was  at the time. He had been diagnosed more than a year before with an aggressive form of leukemia and undergone months of grueling treatment. But his mother was now refusing to follow his doctors orders. Listen Heres all this chemo you told CPS he cannot live without and if I didnt give it to him he would relapse and die. But Landon who underwent only one year of cancer treatment instead of the recommended four was still alivethriving in facteven though hed stopped taking that massive pile of drugs prescribed for him. Thats why his mother had called this meeting. She implored the CPS directorwhom by then she knew by first nameto restrain the oncologists who had threatened to take her child away and put him in foster care. Riddle believes the doctors wanted to prove she was a neglectful abusive mother but she knew she could convince the world that the hospital was wrong about her sons treatment. Due to HIPAA patient privacy laws Childrens Hospital Colorado was unable to comment on Landons case for this story. Landons cancer diagnosed in September  had put Riddle in a situation thats any parents worst nightmare She had to watch him undergo lifesaving treatment that appeared to be killing him. Riddle says she was left with no choice but to defy his doctors orders. In January  nearly four months after Landons initial diagnosis the two went from Utah to Colorado where Riddle purchased an alternative treatment fraught with complicated politics and plenty of skepticismespecially when it comes to saving the life of a preschooler with a potentially fatal disease. At the time Colorado was one of only about a dozen states in the U.S. that had legalized medical cannabis. It also allowed sick children to access the drug under professional guidance. Landon became the youngest patient in the U.S. at that time to receive a medical marijuana card. Riddles decision to treat her child with cannabis landed the family in the center of a contentious national debate as well as on primetime television with CNNs chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta. In Utah all cannabis is illegal so when their story went public she and Landon had to move permanently to Colorado so he could continue to have access to the drug. Even now at  he still needs to take cannabis to cope with the longterm effects of chemotherapy and radiation she says. By the time of that showdown with CPS and Landons doctors in Denver Riddle had stopped giving her son all of the drugs prescribed by the hospital the chemo opiates and benzos. The latter twowhich included OxyContin morphine and Ativanwere prescribed to help Landon cope with the side effects of cancer treatment. None of them helped she says or they made him feel worse. But when Landon started the cannabis oil his health miraculously improved. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep him on cannabis. A Key in the Lock As laws that permit medical cannabis have expanded nationwide  states in the country now permit some form of cannabis use for medical purposes cancer patients increasingly use the drug to alleviate the harsh symptoms of chemotherapy such as nausea anxiety loss of appetite and insomnia. But theres also an emerging body of research that suggests marijuana might be effective as a treatment for cancer on its own or in conjunction with standard therapies. When Riddle made the decision to give her son cannabis the information on its safety and efficacy was and still is limited to anecdotal accounts a handful of case reports and lab studies published in obscure medical journals. Initially her hope was that the drug would lessen the side effects. But Riddle soon heard that certain compounds in cannabiscannabinoidshave been shown to induce cancer cell death. The theory seemed to be especially promising for leukemia at least according to studies done on cancer cells in test tubes and on mice injected with human leukemia cells. But at that point there wasnt any evidence it would work for humans. There still isnt. While cannabis is legal in many U.S. states the drug is still classified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Schedule  narcotic along with heroin and cocaine which make it very difficult for scientists to conduct clinical trials on people. However that may change as other nations such as Israel take the lead and fund marijuana research. Landon Riddle carries bags of marijuana buds as his mother Sierra Riddle stands behind him in their home in Colorado on July . The two had to move from Utah to Colorado permanently after their story went public. Ryan David Brown for Newsweek  Related Stories The findings so far from published lab studies suggest cannabidiol CBD one of more than  cannabinoids present in the plant targets certain pathways in leukemia. The evidence indicates that leukemia cells have a high number of cannabinoid receptorsprimarily the receptor CB. The proteins on the cell membrane receptors recognize the chemical compound CBD. The shape of the receptor mirrors the shape of the compound enabling the CBD to land and attach to the cell. Its like a key in the lock says Dr. Bonni Goldstein medical director of CannaCenters in Los Angeles and the medical adviser to Weedmaps.com a resource for people seeking specialists to oversee their medical cannabis treatment. When compounds such as cannabidiol bond to receptors it causes the cell to die. Further studies are needed to verify that CBD could potentially kill leukemia says Robert McKallip an associate professor of immunology at Mercer University School of Medicine who conducted some of the earliest research on the antileukemia properties of compounds found in cannabis. McKallip suggests cannabis could be used along with other treatments for leukemia. Combined with other targeted therapies which again specifically target the leukemia you give it a onetwo punch and hopefully reduce side effects and improve efficacy of treatment he says. Riddle isnt a doctor but she theorizes that while the chemo initially cleared Landons cancer its the cannabis that has kept his disease from coming back. Oncologists who treat pediatric patients often tell families that when the fiveyear mark passes their child is in the clear. Its been nearly five years since Riddle sat in that conference room meeting Landon is still cancerfree. Riddle says that once he hits the fiveyear mark this fall hell set a precedent for pediatric leukemia patients in the U.S. and maybe even worldwide. Hes Dying Riddle a single mother was willing to do whatever it would take to rid Landon of the cancer in his blood that had spread to his brain and formed a tumor in his chest the size of a large grapefruit. She desperately wanted to trust the doctors at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City where her son was diagnosed at age  and who admitted to her that they werent sure they could save his life. She knew the leukemia treatment protocols are backed by decades of research. But they are infamously rough for a child and drag on for years. First there would be several months of aggressive inpatient chemo and other therapies for whats known as remission reduction. After that even when blood work showed the disease had entered remission Landon would need years of chemo and monitoringcalled consolidationto make sure his body wasnt harboring leukemia cells. This aggressive approach is one of the main reasons pediatric leukemia depending on its more specific classification has at least an  to  percent survival rate. The Leukemia  Lymphoma Society estimates that nearly  kids will be diagnosed in the U.S. with some form of leukemia in . For most of the kids who go through the entire course of treatment the illness turns out to be a mere blip on the screen of childhood. Riddle hoped the same would be true for her son. But Landon appeared to be among a small percentage of children with leukemia for whom the treatment was unbearable excruciating. The chemo caused him to vomit up to  times a day which made it difficult for him to speak because his esophagus was burned and closed up. The chemo had compromised his immune system so severely that he caught every bug in the hospital just about every strain of stomach viruses influenza and the common cold. He eventually developed numbness tingling pain and weakness neuropathy in his feet and ankles and was no longer able to walk. Within the first  days of treatment Landon lost half his body weight. He stopped eating for more than a month. He needed blood and platelet transfusions. Doctors kept adding prescription after prescription to alleviate the side effects of treatmentnarcotics antidepressants antianxiety drugs prescriptions for pain. The sad thing is they didnt seem to help Landon she says. At this point they kept telling us we have to keep going. I said Hes dying. Its very apparent that hes dying. Landon began to refuse chemotherapy and turn into a little psychopath says Riddle. He kicked and screamed when nurses forced pills into his mouth so eventually everything needed to be administered with an IV. The chemo actually has healed a lot of kids but it almost killed me he says. Landon Riddle poses at home in Colorado on July . Ryan David Brown for Newsweek  Most children with leukemia go into remission within the first  days of treatment which was why Landons doctors insisted on several more years of chemotherapy says Riddle. By the time Landon was nearing the end of his first stage of treatment Riddle says her son was on the brink of death. The doctors told her to bring him home for a twoweek break from chemo adding that they would arrange to send a hospice nursean ominous hint that Landon was about to die. A plea for help posted on Facebook by Riddles mother Wendy led the family to a group of brothers in Denver the Stanleys who were cultivating cannabis for medicinal purposes and had made the news for a strain they called Charlottes Web. Riddle and her mother had seen the story about Charlotte Figi a yearold girl with Dravet syndrome a rare type of epilepsy that was unresponsive to standard treatment. She had up to  seizures per day. But the seizures stopped when she began taking CBD oil supplied by the brothers. The Stanleys visited the Riddles in Utah to educate them about Tetrahydrocannabinol THCthe psychoactive chemical in the plantand CBD. She decided to start Landon on cannabis. But to do that the family would need to leave Utah where all cannabis is illegal. So Riddle and Landon moved in with the brothers for about a year says Joel Stanley the CEO of the company that is now known as CW Hemp https It was just so sad to see someone that young and that small going through such harsh treatment Stanley says of Landon. He also had elements of what I know a lot of folks would call chemo brain. He would get very frustrated and very angry all normal because his little body was just being invaded by this intense medication and rounds of chemotherapy treatment. Throughout that year Riddle and her son traveled back and forth from Colorado to Utah so he could continue chemo but this time with the aid of cannabis to make treatment more bearable. That meant Riddle had the drug on hand and Landon was under its influence while in Utah which made mother and son both felons.  Nearly all of the children the brothers had worked with by then were refractory epilepsy patients. The Stanleys had gotten their start a few years before with adults who wanted to manage cancer and Landon was their first pediatric cancer patient. Riddle began her son on Charlottes Web CBD oil and eventually added THC. As Riddle titrated the THC dosing she slowly weaned her son off the narcotics prescribed for him by his doctors in Utah. Stanley says the combination of CBD oil and THC helped Landon deal with the side effects of chemotherapy and based on limited existing lab research made it more likely that the cannabis could kill the cancer as well. If the cannabinoids do in his body what they have proven to do in petri dishes and in mice why not throw the book at them By then CNN had started to follow Landons story. The network planned to broadcast the segment after he and his mother had returned to Utah packed up their car with their possessions and drove to their new home in Colorado where Landon could continue to take cannabis. But CNN aired a promotion for the premiere of the episode before they had left for Colorado. The oncologist at the hospital in Utah who oversaw Landons treatment granted them discharge anyway and told Riddle she better leave the state immediately. Riddle says she was shocked to find that the doctors at the childrens hospital in Denver werent on her side. She says the hospital called CPS on her more than a dozen times when it became aware that she was no longer complying with treatment. That is why she ended up in that conference room with a cannabis researcher who was there to explain why the drug could help patients like Landon. He was the only person in the medical field she could find who would speak on her behalf. It was a big slap in the face that not a single doctor would come forward to help us she says. They were all afraid of losing their medical license. They were afraid of the government. They were afraid of what it would look like if they came forward in the name of cannabis. In the end CPS supported Riddle. Results from blood tests a bone marrow biopsy and spinal tap proved Landon no longer had leukemia not even the microscopic kind she says. Riddle says the CPS director called the hospital and ordered it to have Landons chemo port removed and discharge him from the hospital. Today Landon is still coping with the impact of his treatment. In addition to digestive problems he has posttraumatic stress disorder and anxiety. The cannabis vape pen helps with that says Riddle. She says the cranial radiation he had to endure caused some neurological deficits and Landon says he worries that hell be sick forever. But theres so much good news here. Hes alive and he and his mother are no longer just medical marijuana refugees. Theyre also activists. Along with other parents she helped draft a bill and pass a state law that allows Landon and other children like him with chronic illnesses to take cannabis at school. Since the drug is federally illegal it had been illegal at school. Thats no longer the case in Colorado. Theyve testified in California on behalf of a medical marijuana caregiver whose home was raided by the federal government helping the man avoid a year jail sentence. The mother and son have also traveled back to Utah to appear at a state congressional hearing for a medical marijuana bill thats been shot down twice which means they wont be going home anytime soon. At public appearances Riddle does most of the talking but she says as Landon has grown up he has become more aware of his health problems stemming from his cancer treatment. And also angrier. Eventually hell be the one telling the story and Ill just be the one supporting him."