Billy Caldwell: Mother in plea about medicinal cannabis product 15th February 2017 please log in to view this image Image captionBilly Caldwell, who is 11 years old, flew home with his mother from Los Angeles on Monday night with the cannabis oil The mother of a County Tyrone boy with uncontrollable epilepsy says other children with the condition should be allowed to try a form of cannabis oil. Charlotte Caldwell claims her son Billy is 21-days seizure free due to a form of medicinal cannabis. Billy, who is 11, flew home from treatment in the US on Monday night. The UK's medicines regulatory body has said anyone considering the use of cannabis oil should discuss it with their doctor. Ms Caldwell said that while she is not declaring that the oil is a cure, she wants all children who might benefit from it to be given a chance. "What we have to remember is these are kids who have tried every other pharmaceutical drug that there is out there, cocktails of drugs, maybe four or five at the one time, and they are failing. The product Billy is currently taking is CBD with a THC component. Ms Caldwell was able to bring the medication back from the United States without being stopped by customs officials at Dublin Airport. CBD and Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are two types of cannabinoids found naturally in the resin of the marijuana plant. Unlike THC, pure CBD oil is not a psycho-active ingredient associated with the "high" in marijuana. There is no restriction on the personal use of CBD oil. However, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is of the opinion that CBD products, used for a medical purpose, are medicines. Medicines need a licence to be sold and no businesses in the UK have such a licence for CBD yet. CBD oil has not yet been licensed in the UK as a medicine but can be prescribed by doctors in special circumstances. The oil containing the THC chemical is illegal the under misuse of drugs legislation please log in to view this image Image copyrightCHARLOTTE CALDWELL Image captionBilly was put into an induced coma after a particularly dangerous seizure during his time in America Billy has, at times, suffered as many as 22 seizures a month. During his time in America, he suffered a seizure which left him in a coma. "We took him to L.A. because of the long waiting lists here," Ms Caldwell told BBC News NI. "It's a life-threatening form of epilepsy that he has, we had no choice but to go there." please log in to view this image Image copyrightCHARLOTTE CALDWELL Image captionMc Caldwell has called Billy's seizures 'brutal' Ms Caldwell said the progress she had seen in her son was "absolutely amazing". "The seizures are brutal on a little boy," she said. "In the past weeks he has been more focused, had more eye contact, more social engagement, taking more interest in his books and toys." please log in to view this image Image copyrightCHARLOTTE CALDWELL Image captionThe Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Agency recommends talking to a doctor before trying medicinal cannabis Gerald Heddell, from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said: "Our heart goes out to Billy, his family, and to everybody in a similar situation. "MHRA has come to the opinion that products containing cannabidiol used for medical purposes are medicines. "MHRA's primary concern is patient safety, and to ensure the medicinal products people are buying meet safety, quality and efficacy standards. "We would recommend that anyone using or considering the use of CBD oil should discuss this with their doctor or another healthcare professional." Oh I'll keep posting this stuff lol
poor little boy. Home Office denies medical cannabis pleas for boy age six 18 February 2018 please log in to view this image Media captionEmotional plea to allow medical cannabis for Alfie Requests for a medical cannabis licence to help a boy whose rare form of epilepsy improved after taking the drug have been denied by the Home Office. Six-year-old Alfie Dingley, from Kenilworth in Warwickshire, suffers up to 30 violent seizures a day. His parents want to treat him with medical cannabis oil, which is illegal in the UK. The Home Office said the drug "cannot be practically prescribed, administered or supplied to the public". A spokesperson added that it can only be used for research. Alfie's mother, Hannah Deacon, said "you've got to fight for your kids, I want to know that I've done everything I can". Members of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on drug policy reform is calling on the government to assist with Alfie's plight. please log in to view this image Image copyrightMAGGIE DEACON/PA WIRE Image captionMs Deacon said Alfie's cannabis dose was "very small", just three drops of the oil Ms Deacon said Alfie went to the Netherlands to take a cannabis-based medication in September. She said that while there, the medication, prescribed by a paediatric neurologist, saw his seizures reduce in number, duration and severity. At one point while in the UK, Alfie had 3,000 seizures and 48 hospital visits in a year, but while abroad he went 24 days without a single attack. "It's very rare and very aggressive, there's only nine boys in the world with Alfie's condition," Ms Deacon said. "We never imagined how well it would work. He's just a six-year-old boy, he deserves a happy life. We've found something that makes him happy and now we've got to take that away." Ms Deacon said his cannabis dose was "very small" and he was taking three drops of the oil, which is made using whole plant cannabis. please log in to view this image Image copyrightMAGGIE DEACON/PA WIRE Image captionAt one point, Alfie had 3,000 seizures and 48 hospital visits in a year Alfie's mother said the steroids he currently takes in hospital could eventually cause his organs to fail if he keeps taking them at the rate he is. "He doesn't know any different, he's had a very traumatic life. He's held down and injected," she said. With the Dutch cannabis medication, it is estimated Alfie would have about 20 seizures a year. He stayed with his parents in a holiday camp in the Netherlands to receive the treatment, but without medical insurance in the country they had to return home in January. The APPG wants Home Secretary Amber Rudd to issue a licence for him to continue taking the medication. Group co-chair, Conservative MP Crispin Blunt said: "It would be heartless and cruel not to allow Alfie to access the medication. "Parliament really must look at reforming our laws to allow access to cannabis for medical purposes, which has huge public support." please log in to view this image Image copyrightEPA Image captionMPs have called for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to issue a medical cannabis licence The Home Office said it recognised that people with chronic pain and debilitating illnesses are "looking to alleviate their symptoms". A spokesperson added: "However, it is important that medicines are thoroughly tested to ensure they meet rigorous standards before being placed on the market, so that doctors and patients are assured of their efficacy, quality and safety. "Cannabis is listed as a Schedule 1 drug, as in its raw form it is not recognised in the UK as having any medicinal benefit and is therefore subject to strict control restrictions. "This means it cannot be practically prescribed, administered, or supplied to the public in the UK, and can only be used for research under a Home Office licence. "The Home Office would not issue a licence to enable the personal consumption of a Schedule 1 drug."
but before you think the home office has their hands tied, they allow a company to grow it Norfolk to make epilepsy meds to be taken around the world except here. Aye, the home office still try and make a yanky dollar off it but won't our own kids. pift! This ****ing country. Makes me skin crawl. British Sugar to cultivate cannabis plants in Norfolk for GW Pharmaceuticals please log in to view this image Cannabis plants in a glasshouse Julia Bradshaw 25 OCTOBER 2016 • 12:00PM British Sugar will be swapping tomato plants for cannabis seedlings after signing a long-term contract to supply the crop to drugs company GW Pharmaceuticals. The marijuana plants, which are of a non-psychoactive variety, will be grown in British Sugar’s 18-hectare glasshouse in Wissington, Norfolk, where the company, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, is currently cultivating tomatoes. The space is the equivalent of 23 football pitches. “Every year we try to work out the best commercial assets for the glasshouse,” said Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar. please log in to view this image So long tomatoes “We had always been interested in looking at pharmaceutical crops but never quite found the right partner. We recently did in GW. “Our glasshouse is very well suited for growing that particular variety of the cannabis plant family and it’s fair to say that the return will be better than on tomatoes. We’re confident of decent yields.” GW Pharmaceuticals, a UK biotech, has developed an experimental treatment called Epidiolex for severe forms of childhood epilepsy. It is derived from compounds in the cannabis plant and has achieved stellar results in final-stage trials. The glasshouse will provide enough raw crop a year to treat 40,000 children globally, making British Sugar a major supplier to GW. “GW wanted a very professional grower and we have that expertise. This is a crop that goes into medicines and needs to be grown consistently and reliably,” said Mr Kenward. “By growing this crop we are indirectly helping sick children and doing something socially worthwhile.” please log in to view this image The first seedlings will be planted in January and there are three crops a year, with the first harvest in April. The plants will be picked and packaged on site and transported in bales to GW. Cannabis plants need a lot of light and heat and British Sugar generates this in an environmentally friendly way: electricity, heat, steam and fertiliser are bi-products of the sugar-making process at its nearby factory. “We have invested a lot in lights and blinds to manage light exposure," said Mr Kenward. "Carbon dioxide helps all plants grow and we have that available from our sugar factory. “Sugar is our key input but we turn it into a range of different things. This is just the latest step in our innovation journey.” British Sugar’s annual sales fluctuate with the sugar price, so when wholesale prices of the sweet stuff are low, the company’s peripheral businesses, such as power generation and horticulture, become quite significant. please log in to view this image Paul Kenward, managing director of British Sugar “We are growing the non-psychoactive plant in the cannabis family, so it has no value to anybody other than GW as a pharmaceutical ingredient,” Mr Kenward added. A spokesman for GW Pharmaceuticals said the decision to partner with British Sugar was a consequence of its expertise in growing. Epidiolex has the potential to be a breakthrough medication for children with rare forms of epilepsy, for whom there are no effective treatments. GW plans to file the drug with US regulators in the first half of 2017 and chief executive Justin Gover hopes that the treatment could be on the US market by the end of next year, with a European launch following shortly thereafter. Accordingly, the company has been ramping up production and manufacturing and expanding its commercial sales force.
As someone who has epilepsy I find this appalling. They have me on 1000mg of Leviteracetam per day but I've no idea whats in it. I just take the ****ing tablets.
How come we keep hearing of class A drug users ( who do it by choice) getting all sorts of help, being made to be the poor victim, and not being arrested for illegal drug use -- then a young lad who didn't invite his pain and otherwise wouldn't be interested in drugs , cannot have supervised medicinal use of cannabis and will be treated as a criminal if he gets any. This country, f^^ked or what.
..... and what pi55es me off even more is when the do gooders say the addicts have an “ illness” No. this lad has illness. The addict has a self inflicted condition
