CTVNews.ca Staff
Parents of children suffering from difficult-to-treat forms of epilepsy
are angry that shipments of the hemp oil they rely on to control their
children’s seizures are being seized by Canadian border agents.
The families of 19 hemp oil users say the Colorado manufacturer of one
type of oil called Charlotte's Web informed them last month they are no
longer taking Canadian orders because so many shipments are getting
stopped at the border.
Canada Border Services Agency says it is obligated to seize the
packages because marijuana and all its derivatives remain illegal in
Canada. Health Canada says Canadian families can use made-in-Canada
marijuana oil instead, or apply for an exemption under the Controlled
Drugs and Substances Act.
But the parents say Canadian companies do not make a product comparable
to the Charlotte’s Web oil they import from Colorado, where marijuana
was legalized in 2014.
The oil is named after a five-year-old Colorado girl with epilepsy
whose condition improved after being treated with marijuana oil.
Users say they prefer it because it has very low levels of THC, the
psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, but is high in CBD, or
cannabidiol, a substance shown to reduce epilepsy activity.
Alex Repetski uses a marijuana oil he creates in his Thornhill, Ont.,
home for his four-year-old daughter, Gwen, who has severe epilepsy that
has left her developmentally delayed.
While he doesn’t use Charlotte’s Web, his homemade oil has kept his
daughter seizure-free for 20 months now and he’s angry that a drug that
so many other parents rely on is being taken away.
“I take issue with border agents seizing this product,” Repetski told
CTV News Channel Thursday.
“There are many people using this product,
which is a high-CBD hemp oil, very effectively.”
Repetski says CBD has no psychotropic effects and shouldn’t be banned
under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. He says for kids who have
to stop taking the drug to control their seizures, “the effects are
therefore catastrophic.”
One of those children is four-year-old Kyla Williams, who also has
developmental delays. She used to have hundreds of seizures a day, but
after she started using Charlotte’s Web, the seizures now occur weeks
apart.
Williams’ grandmother, Elaine Neussle, is angry that Border Services
agents are confiscating the drug her granddaughter relies on.
"I can just see all these little bottles of Charlotte’s Web sitting
somewhere in CBSA offices and this is precious oil. This is precious for
these children,” she told CTV Vancouver.
Williams` pediatrician, Dr. Manoj Parameshwar, says the confiscation of
the oil has created "a potentially life-threatening situation" for
Williams.
Nineteen Canadian families have sent letters to the federal government,
pleading for border agents to be allowed to let in the oil shipments.
“They well know our situation and we have not had a response,” Neussle said.
The CBSA maintains it is illegal to import or export marijuana derivatives, regardless of their intended use.
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