This is the first Christmas that the Swann family won’t spend with extended family in Alabama – a situation that makes members shake their heads in disappointment and tear up with joy.

They can’t go home because they moved to Colorado Springs this fall to treat their daughter Allie’s severe epilepsy with a marijuana oil that is illegal in Alabama. But, they say, their sorrow is overwhelmed by the joy they feel seeing their daughter’s rapid improvement.

After three weeks of taking the oil, her seizures are drastically reduced.

‘It’s the greatest gift. It really is,’ said Allie’s father, Butch Swann. ‘It’s so sad. We have something so joyful to share, and we can’t be there. But that is OK. We’ll spend Christmas in Colorado with our new family.’

Families looking to cure epileptic children find first dose of hope with special Colorado marijuana oil

That new family is made of almost 100 families such as the Swanns who moved to Colorado this fall, drawn by online videos and media reports showing a marijuana oil called Charlotte’s Web that appears to help children with debilitating seizures that other treatments have failed.

The migration has driven the number of registered pediatric medical marijuana users in the state […]