(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.
In the eyes of the United States federal government marijuana is an illegal drug. But almost half of the U.S. states have made marijuana use legal or at least a minor crime.
People who support legalization of marijuana say some kinds of the plant offer extraordinary help for human health. For example, one kind of medical marijuana is reported to ease effects of epilepsy, a disease of the nervous system.
Rachael and Shawn Selmeski are happy that their baby girl, Maggie, can hold up her head. That is a normal mark of growth for a four month old child. But Maggie is two years old.
Maggie's father says that simple act is a huge step -- or what he calls a milestone -- for his special needs daughter.
In this Feb. 7, 2014 file photo, a worker cultivates a special strain of medical marijuana known as Charlotte's Web inside a greenhouse, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
"They're inch stones [[small steps]] in the big picture, but they're milestones for our children, for our special needs kids."
Maggie has spent much of her life in the hospital. Shortly after birth, doctors found that Maggie has a rare form of epilepsy. Epilepsy can cause people to suddenly become unconscious. It also can cause violent, uncontrolled movements of the body called seizures.
Maggie's kind of epilepsy can cause hundreds of seizures in a single day. Her parents hurried her to the hospital emergency room many times in the first year of her life. Doctors administered treatments and medicines to save her life. But Mr. Selmeski says these treatments also had other severe effects on his little girl.
"They drugged her up. She would sleep for 20 hours a day, and wouldn't make a noise all day long. They sedated every part of her body."
The Selmeskis wanted treatment with fewer of these unwanted side-effects. So they turned to a new kind of medicinal marijuana called Charlotte's Web. Marijuana growers in the U.S. state of Colorado developed the plant.
Doctor's Advice? Move to Colorado.
Marijuana is legal in Colorado but not in Tennessee where the Selmeskis lived. Maggie's doctors could not order marijuana as a treatment. So, they urged the Semelskis to do something extreme -- head west.
One year ago, the family moved to Colorado. They began giving Maggie Charlotte's Web marijuana mixed with olive oil three times a day. The Semelskis say Maggie's condition improved immediately. She could digest food better. She began developing more muscle. And they say she began to smile more.
Charlotte's Web contains very little of the chemical THC that gives marijuana users a high feeling. But chemist Bryson Rast says that Charlotte's Web is loaded with another chemical, cannabidiol, also known as CBD. The chemical cannabidiol is an anti-inflammatory, meaning it reduces pain and swelling in the body.
Edward Maa is a brain doctor. He says he would like to compare this high CBD medicinal marijuana to federally approved drugs for epilepsy. But, the only marijuana that he may legally study is old, or out-of-date.
Mr. Maa says it is time for the federal government to support research into Charlotte's Web. He says he does not care about the political effects or personal emotions around the medicinal marijuana debate.
"I don't care about the political implications or any of the emotional baggage that it carries. If it works, I'd like to be able to use it."
Most parents will do just about anything to help lessen the suffering of their children. About two hundred families have moved to Colorado from other parts of the country just to get Charlotte's Web for their epileptic children.
The Selmeskis say they hope that growing interest and knowledge of marijuana's medical value will lead to federal support for more research.
And that's the Health Report. I'm Anna Matteo.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.epilepsy n. [内科] 癫痫，癫痫症
He couldn't take that job at the zoo because of his epilepsy.
他因患有癫痫而无法接受动物园的那份工作。
2.seizure n. 没收；夺取；捕获；（疾病的）突然发作
The court ordered the seizure of his assets.
法庭下令没收其财产。
3.sedate adj. 安静的；沉着的 vt. 给…服镇静剂
We set off again at a more sedate pace.
我们重新上路了，步调更加从容。
4.anti-inflammatory adj. 抗炎的 n. 抗炎药
The doctor put me on anti-inflammatory drugs.
医生给我开了消炎药。
内容解析
1.So they turned to a new kind of medicinal marijuana called Charlotte's Web.
turn to 转向；变成；求助于；致力于；开始行动
He soon turned his attention to the difficult problem.
他很快把注意力转到这个难题上。
She turned to me for advice.
她求教于我。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。
在美国联邦政府看来大麻是一种非法毒品，但美国几乎一半的州都使用大麻作为药物，或至少认为使用大麻是轻罪。
支持大麻合法化的人称某些种类的植物对人类健康非常有益，比如，据悉一种药用大麻就能缓解癫痫症状，癫痫是一种神经系统疾病。
瑞秋和肖恩·塞摩斯基很高兴看到宝贝女儿麦吉现在能抬头了，抬头是四个月的婴儿长大的正常标志，但麦吉已经两岁的。
麦吉的父亲说这简单的动作就是巨大的进步，他说这是有着特殊需要的女儿的里程碑。
“这些都是简单的动作，但对我这位有着特殊需求的孩子来说就是一个里程碑。”
麦吉的大部分时间都是在医院度过的，出生后不久，医生就发现麦吉患有一种罕见的癫痫。癫痫能让人突然失去意识，还能引发剧烈、不可控制的动作，也就是癫痫发作。
麦吉的癫痫病可能一天就发作数百次，她的父母在她一岁之前就将她送入医院急诊室多次。医生用治疗和药物来拯救她的生命，但塞摩斯基说这些治疗对女儿会有其他严重的影响。
“他们用药来灌晕她，让她一天睡20个小时，一整天都安安静静的，他们让她身体的每个部位都镇静下来。”
塞摩斯基一家希望有副作用更小的其他治疗方法，所以他们求助于一种名叫“夏洛特之网”新药用大麻，美国科罗拉多州的大麻种植者培育了这种治愈。
医生的建议？搬到科罗拉多州去。
大麻在科罗拉多州是合法的，但在塞摩斯基一家所在的田纳西州却非法。麦吉的医生不用拿大麻来给她治疗，所以他们敦促塞摩斯基一家去做有点极端的事——搬家到西部。
一年前，这家人搬到科罗拉多州。他们开始每天三次给麦吉服用和着橄榄油的大麻，塞摩斯基说麦吉的状态很快有了改善，她现在能更好地消化食物，她开始有了更多肌肉，他们说她笑的也多了。
“夏洛特之网”极少量的四氢大麻酚，这种化学物质能给大麻使用者很大的快感。但化学家布赖松·拉斯特说，“‘夏洛特之网’还含有另外一种成分大麻二酚，也被称之为CBD。大麻二酚是一种消炎药，这意味着它能减缓身体的疼痛和肿胀。”
爱德华·玛阿是位脑科医生，他说他希望将这种具有很高CBD成分的医用大麻和联邦政府批准用于治疗癫痫的药物进行对比，但是他唯一可以利用的大麻已经过时的。
玛阿说是时候让联邦政府支持对“夏洛特之网”的研究了，他说他不在乎围绕药用大麻辩论引发的政治影响或个人情绪。
“我不在乎它带来的政治影响或情感包袱，如果这种药有效，我就能够使用它。”
大多数父母都愿意尽一切努力来帮助减缓孩子的痛苦，约有200户人家已从美国其他地方搬家到科罗拉多，只是为了能用“夏洛特之网”来治疗他们的癫痫孩子。
塞摩斯基一家说，希望人们对大麻药用价值兴趣和知识的渐涨能促使联邦政府支持进行更多研究。
这就是健康报道，我是安娜·马特奥。
