... but Javid paves way for legalising oil as medicine
SAJID Javid paved the way for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis yesterday as he granted a licence for it to be used to treat another severely ill epileptic boy.
It comes after days of controversy over the confiscation of cannabis oil supplies from mother Charlotte Caldwell who brought it into the country from Canada for her 12-yearold epileptic son Billy.
In his statement yesterday Mr Javid said he was also going to give permission for a second boy – sixyear-old Alfie Dingley – to use cannabis oil. His mother, Hannah Deacon, wept with joy and relief as she was told the news.
Alfie suffers from a rare form of epilepsy which means he can suffer as many as 300 violent seizures a month. In April, his family applied to the Home Office for a licence to use the cannabis-based medication, claiming his condition improved after he was treated with it in the Netherlands.
While his mother appeared on ITV News to talk about her son’s case, presenter Nina Hossain revealed that Mr Javid had granted a licence.
In tears, Miss Deacon said: ‘That’s amazing news. Thank you very much for letting me know. Thank you. Thank you to the Prime Minister.’
It came minutes after Mr Javid revealed the Government was reviewing ‘unsatisfactory’ rules to allow cannabis to be used for medical treatments. He said the move could benefit 10,000 children who have a drug-resistant form of epilepsy.
He said the review would be held in two parts. The first, led by England’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies, will make recommendations on which cannabis-based medicines might offer real benefits to patients. In the second part, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs will consider whether changes should be made to the classification of these products after assessing ‘the balance of harms and public health needs’.
Mr Javid said he had the ‘utmost sympathy’ for the families of children like Billy and Alfie, who have travelled abroad to obtain cannabisbased treatments banned in the UK.
‘As a father, I know there is nothing worse than seeing your child suffer,’ he said. ‘You would do anything to take away their pain.
‘That is why I have the utmost sympathy for Billy Caldwell, Alfie Dingley and many others like them and for their parents, who have been under unimaginable stress and strain.’
Billy Caldwell, an epileptic child who needs cannabis oil to treat his life-threatening seizures, was handed an emergency licence for it over the weekend – the first time the Home Secretary has used powers to sidestep laws on medicinal cannabis.