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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Billy Caldwell has been seizure free for a whole year after being given medical cannabis, his mother says Paul Gallagher inews Sunday 02 May 2021 The mother of a teenager with severe epilepsy who fought for the Government to change the law to allow medicinal cannabis has revealed he has been seizure free for a whole year. Charlotte Caldwell said her 15-year-old son Billy’s life has been transformed by cannabis oil, which he began taking in 2016 after she flew him to see a specialist in Los Angeles. She sought help due to his “life threatening seizures being out of control” and having no further treatment options in the UK. Despite medicinal cannabis becoming legal in November 2018, it was only last year after yet another legal battle that Billy was finally able to get a prescription for his treatment on the NHS. Mrs Caldwell, from Co Tyrone, said she is seeing new signs of developmental progress in her son that doctors did not believe were possible. Mother of baby diagnosed with epilepsy at just a few months old says keto diet has been ‘a lifesaver’ Billy, who is non-verbal and has severe epilepsy as well as autism, recently began to “laugh, and babble”. Mrs Caldwell said: “Before cannabis this is something I could only dream of. He is walking, running, laughing and loving life. “Since my beautiful boy Billy became one of the first patients in the UK to receive cannabis medicine funded by the NHS I have watched him flourish and accomplish so much right before my eyes.” She added: “This medicine has categorically transformed his life.” Mrs Caldwell said her son is a “huge Harry Potter fan” and enjoys dressing up as him and dashing around the garden on his broomstick. She said: “He has started taking great interest in his books insisting on magical bedtime stories, something he never ever initiated before cannabis medicine. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is his favourite. He has become more calm and more aware of his surroundings. Eye contact and social interaction has improved tenfold and he will now initiate a hug and constantly wants to cuddle,” she said. A medical cannabis treatment saved my son’s life and Brexit means we can no longer access it Mrs Caldwell said she is “eternally grateful to our wonderful NHS” and also thanks Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock and Robin Swann, the Minister of Health for Northern Ireland for their support, but she said their work is not over yet. She said many other patients are being “failed” and that she is still inundated with messages from vulnerable, chronically ill patients who are still finding medicinal cannabis difficult to obtain on the NHS or are having to pay through private clinics. “There are thousands of Billys across the UK. No patient should have to go through what Billy went through to access life-saving medicine. It is cruel and unnecessary,” Mrs Caldwell added. She said: “Our work continues to advocate for vulnerable chronically ill patients in a mature, collaborative way with the government and we will be launching shortly a Major National Cannabis Medicine Campaign.” Is medicinal cannabis legal? Medicinal cannabis which meets safety and quality standards in the UK has been legal since November 2018. Why was there a change in law? The Government relaxed the rules about the circumstances in which the products can be given to patients following a specially commissioned review. How is medicinal cannabis available on the NHS? It is not available from a GP and can only be prescribed by a specialist hospital doctor. How did Brexit threaten to halt the supply of medicinal cannabis in the UK? Imports of medicinal cannabis product Bedrolite oil from the Netherlands were not prohibited under Dutch law after Brexit. After parents of children who use it complained, the Dutch Government confirmed in January, it will allow continued supply of the product until 1 July 2021. https://inews.co.uk/news/health/billy-caldwel-seizure-free-whole-year-medical-cannabis-epilepsy-978670?fbclid=IwAR37qGEmQHu9jWsCvb_qVgwo670QfXqZ6io3B2DI8NiitB0dKI9d4awSbIo
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