When our 10-year-old son Austin began chemotherapy, one of the hardest battles we faced wasn’t just cancer—it was getting him to eat. The medications caused severe nausea, jaw pain, and esophageal irritation. He lost nearly 15 pounds—weight he didn’t have to lose.

There’s a medication called Marinol (dronabinol), a synthetic THC-based drug long used to stimulate appetite in cancer patients, including children. It worked. It gave families like ours a tool to help their children eat, gain strength, and keep fighting.

But now, due to a legal technicality and shifting insurance policies, Marinol has become virtually inaccessible to kids like Austin.

Here’s why:

Since Missouri legalized recreational marijuana for adults, many insurance companies have stopped covering Marinol, claiming THC is now “available over the counter.”

But minors cannot legally access THC products, and parents can’t buy them on their behalf without risking serious legal consequences—even when medically necessary.

This leaves children in a dangerous gray area where they are too young for dispensaries, yet denied coverage for the one medication that could help them stay nourished and stable during treatment.

This is unacceptable.

We are calling on Missouri lawmakers and regulators to:

1. Mandate that insurance providers cover Marinol for pediatric patients undergoing chemotherapy or other medically necessary treatments.

2. Create legal protections for parents and guardians providing THC-based medications under the guidance of licensed pediatric specialists.

No family should have to choose between breaking the law and keeping their child alive and nourished.

Our son deserves better. So do thousands of other children facing cancer across Missouri and beyond. Please sign and share this petition. Let’s fix this loophole before another child falls through it.