A 9-year-old in Texas has become the new face in the debate over the legalization of medical marijuana. Alexis Bortell and her parents are residents of Rowlett, Texas, a small suburb east of Dallas. Alexis was diagnosed with generalized epilepsy in July 2013 when she began having seizures of unknown origin. After her first seizure, Alexis was rushed to the hospital where she was prescribed a medication called Carbatrol.

Dean Bortell, Alexis’ father, describes this first medication, “like throwing gasoline on a fire.” He said that it was terrible, with Alexis’ seizures going from mainly happening at night to around the clock.

Alexis was next prescribed the drug Depakote in addition to continuing on Carbatrol, but Mr. Bortell says the addition of Depakote only made things worse, causing tremors, spasms, and personality changes. On top of the new symptoms, the seizures continued. When asked to describe the ordeal, Alexis said, “I kinda black out, and sometimes I start chomping and shaking.”

Doctors have now ordered Alexis to be slowly weaned off of Carbatrol and Depakote, causing her and her family to rely solely on a supply of rescue medication. But the failure to find a medicine to successfully help with the seizures and the reliance on the rescue medication has left the Bortells in a constant state of worry in the case that Alexis’ condition suddenly worsens.

Out of ideas and desperate, the Bortells happened to watch Weed 2, the second in a documentary series hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta focusing on the medical and scientific properties of cannabis. In the documentary, Dr. Gupta tells of how the use of oils and tinctures developed from the marijuana plant help to combat the seizures without the horrible side effects caused by Carbatrol, Depakote and other seizure medications.

The Bortells soon began to conduct their own research into the benefits of cannabis and began to visit Colorado where medical marijuana is legal. While in Colorado, Alexis was able to qualify for the “red card” which allows physicians to prescribe her marijuana based medications.

Having finally found a medication that is showing signs of improving Alexis’ health, this Texas 9-year-old faces a fight for her life on a new front: Texas legislature. Alexis cannot use the medication as long as she and her family live in Texas, where the use of marijuana for medical or recreational purposes is banned. Texas laws apply even harsher penalties for the possession of oils and tinctures.

It has long been agreed that Texas will be one of the last bastions to legalize marijuana for medical use or otherwise. Traditionally a conservative state, Texas politicians still view the use of medical marijuana as “immoral and unethical,” as Alexis was told by her Texas State Representative Scott Turner when she visited him back in November to discuss legalizing marijuana.

Dean and Alexis have taken to social media in search of help in what they view has become not only a fight over the legalization of medical marijuana, but also a fight for Alexis’ life.

Alexis has begun to vocalize her ordeal in an effort to get the Texas State Legislature to listen to her message. She has given speeches to marijuana activists in Dallas, and met with other activists on Tuesday at the Texas Capitol in the hopes of lobbying legislators to her cause.

Nine-year-old Alexis is hopeful that they will listen to her story, saying that the legalization of medical marijuana in Texas would be “…a big deal. It would be amazing.”

Both she and her father anxiously await the decisions of the 84th Texas Legislature. “When the gavel falls in May, we’ll know if we have to leave Texas,” says Dean.