Should this boy have a cannabis licence?

[Buce]

 

This six year old boy has severe epilepsy and has 3,000 severe seizures per year. When his family took him to Holland and had him treated with cannabis oil, the severity and frequency were reduced dramatically. It is estimated that with access to the treatment, the number of siezures would drop to as few as 20 a year, have shorter duration and they would be less severe, yet Amber Rudd is refusing to grant him a licence to access the medication.

 

Personally, I think the government's inflexible approach is morally abhorent, indefensible, and medieval.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-43101716

 

If you feel strongly about this, there is a petition that you can sign.

Edited 18 February 2018 by Buce

[StanSP]

if it's proven to have signifcant improvement in his medical condition (which it sounds like it does), then I don't see why not. Is there a risk of addiction to it? 

Agree that the approach here is too rigid. 

[Vacamion]

 

Yes.

 

The government appears to be allowing its attitude to cannabis as a recreational drug (which is wrong anyway) to influence its attitude to medicinal (non-high-inducing) use.

 

Wrong.

 

Those poor parents.  The blinkered State wants their child to keep suffering.  

 

 

[ozleicester]

For fvcks sake, just legalise this.

[Buce]

3 minutes ago, Vacamion said:

 

Yes.

 

The government appears to be allowing its attitude to cannabis as a recreational drug (which is wrong anyway) to influence its attitude to medicinal (non-high-inducing) use.

 

Wrong.

 

Those poor parents.  The blinkered State wants their child to keep suffering.  

 

 

 

2 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

For fvcks sake, just legalise this.

 

I've just added a petition, guys.

[ozleicester]

2 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

 

I've just added a petition, guys.

not seeing it?

 

Oh, now i am 

Edited 18 February 2018 by ozleicester

[Trav Le Bleu]

7 minutes ago, ozleicester said:

not seeing it?

 

Oh, now i am 

Can't see through the smoke from your hookah?

[VLC86]

I used to smoke a lot of weed and it can mess you up however it is evident that can help a hell of a lot of people out.

 

It is a matter of time before it’s legalised but they need to sort it out ASAP.

[Sambiasso]

Legalising and taxing it would be the financial sticky plaster the NHS needs imo. 

[Innovindil]

Yes. Shouldn't even be a debate around it. 

[Bryn]

4 minutes ago, Innovindil said:

Yes. Shouldn't even be a debate around it. 

 

What a silly thing to say.

[Buce]

10 minutes ago, Bryn said:

 

What a silly thing to say.

 

As a doctor, what's your take on it?

[Bryn]

Just now, Buce said:

 

As a doctor, what's your take on it?

 

I'd need to look at the evidence (which is the sensible answer to any such discussion) but as a point of principle regarding the little lad if he's having thousands of seizures a year despite optimal antiepileptic medication clearly someone needs to start thinking outside the box and if there's evidence cannabis oil will help and the benefit outweighs the risk, it would seem worth discussing with the parents.

 

With drugs in general I don't agree that there's "no evidence of harm" associated with them, as people seem to like to boldly proclaim, but I'm not in favour of criminalisation and it really does seem the government's attitude is overly rigid and not in keeping with the evidence available.

[lifted*fox]

we are so ****ing backwards in the UK on this issue, it's unreal.

 

 

[yorkie1999]

What’s crazy is that if you’re from Holland and have been prescribed cannabis oil for medical purposes, you can use it in the uk as long as you have a certificate.

[Buce]

Just now, yorkie1999 said:

What’s crazy is that if you’re from Holland and have been prescribed cannabis oil for medical purposes, you can use it in the uk as long as you have a certificate.

 

It's quite clear to me what's really going on here. Once the government allows one case such as this, it becomes a precedent which will form the thin end of the wedge which will eventually end in legalisation. The Tories won't allow that for two reasons: firstly, it's their voter base (elderly and right wing) that is most opposed to it (or any other progressive societal change - witness their attitudes toward gay marriage/ the EU/ the death penalty/ decimalisation etc), and secondly because psychoactive drugs, to use a cliché, expand the mind - ie it makes you question things and opens up the mind to new ideas - and that is the last thing that the elite want. They want a compliant 99% who accept what they are told, who accept things the way they are.

[Guest Sharpe's Fox]

Wouldn’t be adverse to changing the law to allow legalisation of cannabis based drugs but until that happens the lad shouldn’t be prescribed anything that’s illegal.

[Carl the Llama]

"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" should really read as "is not recognised by the UK government" given how they're the ones with a history of choosing to disregard the available science and even sacking government-appointed advisers for daring to provide research which makes their drugs policy look like the foolish venture that it is.

[Benguin]

Legalise it for strict medical purposes if the evidence supports it. As for the stoneheads who use low hanging fruit like this to support legalising it, ensure the legislation prevents recreational use.

[Captain...]

Why don't they just move to the Netherlands?

 

 

[Buce]

6 minutes ago, Captain... said:

Why don't they just move to the Netherlands?

 

 

 

They did but ran out of money. 

[Captain...]

2 minutes ago, Buce said:

 

They did but ran out of money. 

They went to the Netherlands, but they didn't move there. I mean pack up and find a job and a house in the Netherlands.

 

Obviously this would not be necessary if the UK allowed the treatment, but it would probably quicker to move to the Netherlands than get the government to change their policy. It's a lovely country and quite quick and easy to get to from the UK.

 

If one country that I am (currently) free to go and live and work in offered a treatment that gave my son a much better quality of life than the one I currently lived in I would move there in an instant.

 

They would probably get a crowdfunding page full of donations to help them.

 

 

[Buce]

14 minutes ago, Captain... said:

They went to the Netherlands, but they didn't move there. I mean pack up and find a job and a house in the Netherlands.

 

Obviously this would not be necessary if the UK allowed the treatment, but it would probably quicker to move to the Netherlands than get the government to change their policy. It's a lovely country and quite quick and easy to get to from the UK.

 

If one country that I am (currently) free to go and live and work in offered a treatment that gave my son a much better quality of life than the one I currently lived in I would move there in an instant.

 

They would probably get a crowdfunding page full of donations to help them.

 

 

 

I think there is some kind of crowdfunding happening now. 

 

Edit: http://alfieshope.co.uk/alfies-hope-crowdfunding/

Edited 19 February 2018 by Buce