I got a note asking me to collect the parcel at the Post Office. I feared I was about to be arrested
Caroline Burns’ family are risking arrest and and stretching their finances to the limit to import the cannabis-based drug they are convinced is keeping her alive.
The drug, arriving from Canada, costs between £1000 and £1500 a month and, they believe, has helped shrink her brain tumour.
Her dad, Pat O’Hara, 63, a retired fire fighter and assistant divisional officer, says he once feared arrest when he was asked to collect the regular package from the post office.
Pat, from Cumbernauld, said: “Instead of it coming to my home, I got a note telling me to collect it from the post office.
“I wondered if I would be arrested when I turned up.
“But instead, I was asked to pay £15 VAT on the package.
“It was covered in Customs stickers.
“The delivery arrives described as a different product, and not cannabis. We are law-abiding people who are not comfortable importing cannabis.
“But I don’t know a parent who wouldn’t go to drastic measures, to save their child.”
Caroline, mum to Jack, said: “I am so lucky to have such a loving family.
“My husband Gary, an energy sector consultant, also works tirelessly to keep me alive,”
Caroline also gets Sativex on a private prescription, costing £500 a year.
The drug showed increased survival in a small trial of 21 people with Caroline’s brain tumour shrinking by 26%
The family welcome the government review into medical cannabis, announced last week.
“We want it to be quick and efficient because desperately ill people need that,” Pat added.
He is also exploring other ways to get Caroline the drug legally.
Cannabis oil itself is illegal to possess, supply or use.
The law changed to recognise a type called CBD as a medicine.
This is down to scientific studies into its use.
The THC type, which has psychotropic effects that get people high, is not.
Caroline takes both THC and CBD along with the drug Sativex.
She continues to attend The Beatson cancer unit in Glasgow. Regular scans monitor her progress.