SALT LAKE CITY — A new study from the University of Utah has yielded positive results from testing the effects of cannabis extract on children with epilepsy.

Results of the study showed a 40 percent decrease in the frequency and severity of seizures in those children treated with the extract, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

The University of Utah’s Division of Pediatric Neurology and Primary Children’s Medical Center began clinical trials in 2014 on the extract known as Epidiolex, a liquid, purified form of cannabidiol (CBD), which is a non-psychoactive chemical in marijuana, the report said.

Utah law currently does not allow CBD extracts to be sold in state, but they can be imported from out-of-state, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

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Rep. Gage Froerer, R-Huntsville, sponsored the bill to allow the university to study the chemical, according to KUTV. The study was approved in the 2016 legislative session to continue for five more years.

The drug’s manufacturer, GW Pharmaceuticals, will take the results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss next steps, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. While one patient was reported to be seizure free, some side-effects experienced by some patients included nausea, diarrhea or appetite changes.

Read the report from the Salt Lake Tribune for more information.

Contact reporter Andreas Rivera at 801-625-4227 or arivera@standard.net. Follow him on Facebook or Twitter at @SE_Andreas.