BATTLING MUM TAKES Please give my little boy back the cannabis oil he needs to survive

She highlighted her plight in heartbreaking scenes as Billy’s lifeline cannabis oil was confiscated as she landed at Heathrow after collecting it from Canada.

But despite the law change, it is estimated that fewer than 100 people have been given cannabis prescriptions for Nabilone and Sativex on the NHS.

Only when other treatments have failed is cannabis oil “likely” to be prescribed on the NHS for those with rare, severe forms of epilepsy and adults with vomiting or nausea caused by chemotherapy.

Charlotte has spent all her savings on private prescriptions which are helping Billy “thrive”.

She said: “Thousands of patients in the UK could really benefit from these treatments, not just epilepsy sufferers like Billy.

“I’ve spoken to multiple sclerosis sufferers who are crying on the phone. They suffer unbelievable pain.

“It’s devastating. It’s for more than just kids with epilepsy, it’s for a spectrum of conditions and those with chronic pain.”

She said Billy endured “six days of torture” after his sixmonth supply of cannabis oil was seized.

She had flown to Canada to collect it. Speaking at Billy’s hospital bedside after he began suffering seizures again, she said their case should be a “wake- up call” to the

Government. But despite securing a change in the law, Billy did not qualify for an NHS prescription, and Charlotte could afford the £2,000-a-month medication only thanks to public donations and now t through pharmaceutical company Aurora. Tomorrow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence will publish guidelines on cannabis- based medicines. Campaigners expect Nice to say more clinical trials are needed. Single mum Charlotte said: “We have to accept medicinal al cannabis has medical and d therapeutic benefits.”

In Denmark, patients already have access to a structured trial due to a pilot programme.

Charlotte said: “The cannabis is oil has improved the quality of Billy’s life tenfold.

“He’s living, laughing, he’s ’s surviving and now thriving. He’s ’s not cured but it’s given me back ck a right as a mummy to hope.

“Billy is able to run and play. y. I’ll try to wash his face and he’ll ll run away. He can now walk down wn steps. That’s massive. He used to o have to shuffle down on his bum. m.

“He can give more eye contact, t, he can understand simple e commands, things that people le take for granted Billy can now do. o.