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Scotland: Dunfermline cancer patient's daughter in plea to help save mum with controversial treatment Michael Alexander The Courier Monday 30 Jul 2012 Alana Morrison's parents, Alan and Margo Morrison, have owned and run the Auld Mill House Hotel in Dunfermline for the past 12 years. Margo (63) was diagnosed with lung cancer and secondary liver cancer this time last year. The family were told it was terminal and she could not be cured but doctors said they could control and manage the tumours to prolong her life. She received a course of chemotherapy, which the family were told she had responded well to. However, a little over a fortnight ago, Margo collapsed and was rushed to hospital where it was discovered the cancer had now spread to her brain in the form of a 3.5cm-long tumour. She has just finished a course of radiation and Alana said that is all the treatment the NHS is prepared to give her. However, Alana has researched what she regards as a very successful treatment outside the UK and now hopes to raise enough funds to send her mum for the treatment at the end of August. Alana (39) told The Courier: ''Under the circumstances I need to organise this fairly quickly and I am hoping that people might be able to contribute to our cause. ''The treatment involves hemp oil. It is derived from cannabis and is therefore illegal in the UK. But I want to take her on a 90-day course of treatment at a medical marijuana pharmacy in Amsterdam. It's legal over there. ''It is completely non-toxic and 100% natural plant extract and prescribed by real physicians. I'm borrowing a caravan but reckon we need to raise around £8,500. ''I've been doing a lot of research and it is a last-ditch attempt to save my mum but I believe this treatment could be our last hope.'' Hemp oil first came to prominence as a possible cancer cure following claims made in 2006 by Canadian Rick Simpson that several people had seen the disease disappear after taking the substance. It was also reported last year that a young US boy's brain tumour had been ''cured'' after his father secretly gave him cannabis oil through his feeding tube. However, Cancer Research UK points out that there is ''no robust scientific evidence'' to show that cannabis or cannabis oil can successfully treat cancer. And it is possible that smoking cannabis can increase the risk of lung cancer. It has also dismissed popular internet claims that the pharmaceutical industry deliberately suppressed natural remedies to ensure prescribed drugs' profits remained high. At the moment cannabis is illegal in the UK, although the medical use of cannabis and cannabis-derived chemicals is being investigated and debated. Cannabinoids do have the potential to be useful for cancer and other diseases but this needs to be explored in rigorous and safe studies, researchers say. American medical marijuana champion Dr Lester Grinspoon, who is associate professor emeritus of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, has said: ''There is little doubt that cannabis now may play some non-curative roles in the treatment of this disease (or diseases) because it is often useful to cancer patients who suffer from nausea, anorexia depression, anxiety, pain and insomnia. ''However, while there is growing evidence from animal studies that it may shrink tumour cells and cause other promising salutary effects in some cancers, there is no present evidence that it cures any of the many different types of cancer. ''I think the day will come when it or some cannabinoid derivatives will be demonstrated to have cancer curative powers, but in the meantime, we must be very cautious about what we promise these patients.'' More information about Alana Morrison's fundraising hopes can be found at mumsfund.blogspot.co.uk, facebook.com/groups/helpcuremymum or indiegogo.com/mumsfund?a=939727 http://www.thecourier.co.uk/News/Fife/article/24186/dunfermline-cancer-patient-s-daughter-in-plea-to-help-save-mum-with-controversial-treatment.html
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