A Gloucester family is joining the national fight to make a natural herb remedy readily available to those who are medically in need. Their adopted daughter is now using cannabidiol, a compound that has medical effects to help a number of conditions, but remains controversial as whether it should be readily available to consumers.

Andrea Anderson and her husband John have three boys of their own, and decided to grow their family even more by foster parenting and adopting several more children who were in need of a stable, loving home.

One of these children, Carlee, was in need of even more love and care. According to Andrea, Carlee was born to a 16-year-old mother who had no prenatal care and was delivered into a toilet. At between 26 to 28 weeks, she was born weighing only 2 lbs., 7 oz., and remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks.

Anderson said Carlee’s biological mother had a virus, which, in turn, caused serious consequences for the newborn.

When Carlee...