Medical cannabis to be legalised in the UK?

MPs back bid by mother of epileptic
schoolboy Billy Caldwell to change ‘bizarre and cruel’ drug
laws

In Depth

Billy’s mother, Charlotte, recently travelled to Canada to bring
back seven bottles of cannabis oil to help her son, but these were
confiscated when she landed at London Heathrow last week. Matters
came to a head when Billy suffered a severe fit and was admitted to
London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Friday, prompting Home
Secretary Sajid Javid to issue an emergency licence to allow the
cannabis treatment, based on the advice of senior clinicians.
Following two doses, Billy’s health is now improving, reports
The Times.

What is the medication?

The oil that Billy has been taking contains a psychoactive
substance from the cannabis plant called tetrahydrocannabinol
(THC), which is illegal in the UK.

The Government claims there is no medicinal value to cannabis,
although it has made an exception for a drug called Sativex,
licensed in the UK to treat multiple sclerosis
(MS).

“Doctors could, in theory, prescribe it for other things outside
of this licence, but at their own risk,” says the BBC. “MS patients prescribed Sativex, who resupply it
to other people, also face prosecution.”

Another type of cannabis oil, called CBD, is legal in the UK,
but contains less than 0.05% of THC.

What difference will Billy Caldwell’s case make?

The Home Office has not updated the law, but has granted a
limited licence for the drug to be administered to Billy in
hospital for 20 days.

However, now that the Government “has made it clear they’re
willing to bend the rules for one individual, it’s impossible to
justify the status quo”, says Annie Corcoran on The Independent.

Charlotte Caldwell has said she will not leave London until she
has met government ministers to demand a review of the “massively
outdated” laws on medicinal cannabis use.

She has the backing of Sir Mike Penning, a Tory MP leading an
all-party group looking at medical cannabis. Penning has called the
existing laws “bizarre and cruel” and wants a “fundamental reform”
of the system, with cannabis reclassifyed as having a medicinal
use.

Although European countries, including Germany and the
Netherlands, and almost 30 US states have legalised medicinal
cannabis, critics in the UK fear it is a way to decriminalise the
drug “through the back door”.

Penning insists: “Medical cannabis is a health issue, not a
misuse of drugs issue. It’s about patients and relieving
suffering.”