Government REFUSES to allow epilepsy lad suffering '30 fits a day' vital cannabis meds

A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy who suffers from an extreme form of epilepsy has been refused permission by the Home Office to use cannabis oil to ease his symptoms.

Hayley Coyle

 
Maggie Deacon/PA Wire
REFUSED: The government will not issue Alfie with a licence to use cannabis oil 

 

The family of little Alfie Dingle, who sometimes has up to 30 seizures a day, feel the oil has changed his existence from a “death sentence” to a “normal life with school, friends and fun”.

He has been taking it in the Netherlands, where it is legal.

Yesterday MPs called on the Home Office to issue him with a licence to use cannabis oil after learning how drastically it has improved his condition.

But the government has ruled out allowing Alfie’s parents to bring the drug into the UK.

Maggie Deacon/PA Wire
MEDICINAL: The oil prevents Alfie from having 30 fits a day

 

In a statement, a Home Office spokesman said: "We recognise that people with chronic pain and debilitating illnesses are looking to alleviate their symptoms.

"However, it is important that medicines are thoroughly tested to ensure they meet rigorous standards before being placed on the market, so that doctors and patients are assured of their efficacy, quality and safety.

"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 and is therefore subject to strict control restrictions.

"This means it cannot be practically prescribed, administered, or supplied to the public in the UK, and can only be used for research under a Home Office licence.”

Maggie Deacon/PA Wire
POORLY: Alfie's mum believes that if he keeps on taking steroids his organs will fail

“We've found something that makes him happy and now we've got to take that away.”

Hannah Deacon, Alfie's mother

Last September, Alfie went to the Netherlands to take a cannabis-based medication prescribed by a paediatric neurologist, and saw his seizures reduce in number, duration and severity.

But the family have since returned to the UK because they have run out of money and want to continue fundraising for the campaign and to lobby for the licence to be granted.

At one point while in the UK Alfie, from Kenilworth, Warks, had 3,000 seizures and 48 hospital visits in a year.

Alfie’s mum Hannah Deacon said: "He's just a six-year-old boy, he deserves a happy life. We've found something that makes him happy and now we've got to take that away."

Hannah said Alfie's cannabis dose was "very small" and he was taking only three drops of the oil.

Marijuana for DOGS?! US firm makes pet medicine from cannabis

 

US firm TreatWell has made use of the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal use to make this medicine for pets. The cannabis-based tincture is used to treat anxiety and arthritis

She also said that the steroids he takes in hospital could eventually cause his organs to fail if he keeps taking them at the rate he is and added: "He doesn't know any different, he's had a very traumatic life. He's held down and injected.”

Conservative MP Crispin Blunt, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group, said Home Secretary Amber Rudd can grant a special licence for Alfie to get the drug he needs.

"It would be heartless and cruel not to allow Alfie to access the medication," he added.