Support in United Kingdom Grows in Wake of Young Medical Cannabis Consumer
[dropcap class=”kp-dropcap”]A[/dropcap]lthough some countries are farther along in their journeys to legalizing cannabis, others are just getting started. The fight to legalize medical cannabis consumption, especially when it is used to help children, is not a new topic to the United Kingdom (U.K.) but the discussion is finally starting to gain speed. Recently, because of the plight of young Billy Caldwell, whose medicine was recently taken from him at an airport.
Mike Penning, a Senior Member of Parliament (MP) and chairman of the new All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Medicinal Cannabis Under Prescription, spoke out in support of a need for medical cannabis reform. “It’s bizarre and cruel that we have a system that allows the medical use of strong opiates, but bars the medical use of cannabis,” he told BBC.
Penning’s statement was in response to an dispute on June 11, when officials at Heathrow Airport confiscated 12-year-old Billy’s cannabis oil, which his mother, Charlotte, uses to treat her son’s severe epileptic seizure. His mother had been attempting to bring a supply into the U.K. from Canada.
Charlotte says her son’s seizures have drastically reduced since he has been taking oil, which contains THC, which is currently illegal in the U.K. After confiscating Billy’s oil, he was later admitted to the London’s hospital after his seizure “intensified.”
Billy’s condition led Home Secretary Sajid Javid to approve the return of some of the confiscated cannabis oil, soon after doctors made it clear it was a medical emergency. The Home Office also granted a limited license for cannabis to be administered to the child in the hospital for 20 days.
The incident has opened a new debate on the legislation surrounding medicinal cannabis.
Penning’s fellow MP Crispin Blunt, a co-chair of the APPG on drug policy, said the existing law was “frankly absurd,” and former Health Minister Dan Poulter also stated that the current situation was “ridiculous.” Former Drug Minister Norman Baker described the confiscation of the oil “cruel and inhumane,” and renewed calls for a law change citing cannabis’ “useful medical properties.”
Despite current law, the consumption of medical cannabis always comes back to the need of the patients. “Medical cannabis is a health issue, not a misuse of drugs issue,” Penning said in a statement. “It’s about patients and relieving suffering.”
