Charlotte’s Web Creates Wellness Grants to Honor Charlotte Figi

Charlotte’s Web is commemorating the passing of Charlotte Figi and her legacy in changing medical cannabis acceptance in Colorado and beyond with the financing of 10 family wellness grants that will bear her name.

Charlotte Figi died on April 7, 2020 at the age of 13 from complications due to COVID-19, following years of CBD-assisted relief for her epileptic seizures. Two years ago, April 7 was declared “Charlotte Figi Day” in Colorado. This April 7, Charlotte’s Web announced its first list of 10 Charlotte Figi grantees who will be given a year of free medicinal CBD by the company. This year’s granted families were selected by Realm of Caring–the nonprofit founded by Charlotte’s mother Paige Figi and Heather Jackson, another mother who had moved to Colorado to obtain CBD for her son’s pediatric epilepsy.

Charlotte Figi was a 5-year old who suffered from epileptic seizures due to Dravet Syndrome. Her story of finding relief through medical cannabis helped changed CBD access for millions. Denver, CO-based Charlotte’s Web’s own history is intimately tied to Charlotte Figi and her mother’s tireless effort to help her child.

In 2012, Paige Figi began investigating the then-unknown cannabis derivative CBD as a means of relief for her child’s debilitating seizures. Charlotte at the time was confined to a wheelchair and unable to speak. These were the days before CBD was widely available. It was still considered medical marijuana because there was no legal distinction for non-intoxicating extracts from cannabis plants.

At the time, the Stanley brothers were working to develop proprietary hemp genetics that were high in CBD and low in THC. In 2012, Paige Figi contacted the Stanleys looking for a non-intoxicating natural alternative for Charlotte. Using CBD oil provided by the future founders of Charlotte’s Web, Charlotte Figi experienced an immediate reduction in her symptoms. She went from having 300 grand mal seizures a week to just two or three per month.

A story that inspired millions
After seeing Charlotte’s response to the extract, the Stanleys were inspired to make their extract more widely available. Charlotte’s story was spotlighted in Sanjay Gupta’s CNN documentary “Weed.” She would go on to become a leading symbol for the medical benefits of cannabis. Charlotte’s experience inspired tens of thousands of people to seek CBD for health issues, many traveling to Colorado to receive treatment.

More than 15,000 families traveled to the state to get on waiting lists for CBD oil during those early years, according to Charlotte’s Web. As the first state in which CBD product sales were legal, Colorado has remained at the forefront of hemp and cannabis innovation and growth. In its first decade, the CBD industry has grown from that pioneering brand–the Stanley brothers’ proprietary Charlotte’s Web–to more than 3,500 CBD brands in the United States and an estimated US$4.7 billion in retail sales in 2021.

Charlotte’s Web CBD celebrates Charlotte Figi Day on April 7. PHOTO CREDIT: CNW GROUP/CHARLOTTE’S WEB

“We keep Charlotte’s heroic story illuminated while also supporting wellness and relief for those families most in need. Our founders were there at the beginning in 2012 with Charlotte and her family. Charlotte’s story stands for the true founding of not only our company, but the entire hemp CBD industry,” Charlotte’s Web CEO Jacques Tortoroli said in a statement.

As part of Charlotte’s Web’s launch of the Charlotte Figi Wellness Grant, the company hosted an employee event at the Loft, its manufacturing plant and R&D facility in Louisville, KY. Tortoroli said Charlotte’s Web always remembers this profound change began as a result of the courage of Charlotte, her family and the activism of the Realm of Caring team. Together, Paige Figi and Heather Jackson helped to change laws in dozens of states and establish two national farm bills that changed access to hemp for all Americans.

Today, Charlotte’s Web products include full-spectrum hemp CBD oil tinctures, gummies, capsules, topical creams and lotions, as well as their original history-changing CBD oil: Charlotte’s Web. The company’s products are distributed via more than 15,000 retail outlets, more than 8,000 health care practitioners and online through the company’s website at CharlottesWeb.com.