Directed by Chase Gouthro
Faced with the possibility of her son Nicholas dying from intractable epilepsy, Dr. Jennifer Anderson, a Canadian physician and single mother of three, decides to treat her own child with cannabis. With the treatment, Nicholas goes from 3-4 seizures an hour, and in a near catatonic state, to playing with his twin brother and older sister, participating in life, and no longer needing emergency admissions to hospital.
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Anderson is met with push-back from her son’s doctors, and even her own colleagues. This experience, and the focus on the political aspects of cannabis instead of the patient, makes her question what she does as a physician for other families. She now oversees the cannabinoid treatment of dozens of children living with epilepsy, autism, ADHD, and other illnesses, and works as an advocate for the families who have to fight for their child’s opportunity to try cannabis as medicine.
Through the first-hand stories of Dr. Anderson and three of the families she treats, Anything Can Happen offers an intimate perspective of the challenges faced by those living on the front lines of paediatric cannabis, and asks the question, “How far do you go to save your child?”
Project Links
Documentary Film Festival. Los Angeles & Toronto 