'THEY CAN'T JUST TAKE IT!'
Mum who had cannabis oil seized at Heathrow says epileptic son, 12, has suffered seizure without it
A MUM who had her epileptic son's cannabis oil seized at Heathrow Airport yesterday today revealed the 12-year-old had his first seizure in 300 days without the medicine.
Charlotte Caldwell was stopped as she travelled back home to Northern Ireland after making a trip to Canada to get the "life-saving" oil for Billy.
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But speaking on This Morning she said: "Yesterday was the first time in 18 months he missed his medication.
"It was the first time in 300 days he had a seizure.
"He missed his last treatment at 3.30pm yesterday. This morning at 1.05 he had his first seizure in 300 days. A small 30-second seizure.
"They should at least have the decency to try to work with me. They can't just take it away. He needs his medication today.
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"They signed his death warrant. It's anti-epilepsy medicine. Nothing else. You can't get a high off this medication, even if you drank 40 bottles of it."
Charlotte set out last week for the oil after the Home Office banned her son GP from prescribing the life saving medication.
She had said she would return to the UK with six month's supply of cannabis oil, but customs officers confiscated the oral drops at Heathrow yesterday afternoon.
Ms Caldwell accused Home Office Minister Nick Hurd of having "likely signed my son's death warrant" before heading to a London meeting with him.
"It's Billy's anti-epileptic medication that Nick Hurd has taken away, it's not some sort of joint full of recreational cannabis.
"Let me tell you something now: we will not stop, we are not going to stop, we are not going to give up, we have love, hope, faith for our kids and we are going to continue."
She said Billy was due his next dose at 3.30pm, and warned of the dangers of missing his first treatment in 19 months.
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Mum who had cannabis oil seized at Heathrow says epileptic son, 12, has suffered seizure without it
"The reason they don't do it is that it can cause really bad side-effects - they wean them down slowly. So what Nick Hurd has just done is most likely signed my son's death warrant."
"I'll go back to Canada and I'll get more and I'll bring it back again because my son has a right to have his anti-epileptic medication in this country and his own home."
She said customs officers were "conflicted" about removing the medication from her.
She added that doctors are trialling the oil in Canada and it's been "very successful".
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"I'm not at all interested in recreational use. It's not something I've ever had an interest in, and for me it's a small bottle of oil that's keeping my son alive, it's anti-epileptic medication. It keeps his life-threatening seizures at bay, it's keeping him alive," she said.
Billy, 12, was given a prescription for medicinal cannabis oil last year to help treat his epilepsy - in a case similar to that of six-year-old Alfie Dingley, who met with Theresa May in March in a bid to help change the law around the drug.
He has a form of the condition meaning he cannot get help through other medication or diet.
He used to suffer up to 100 seizures a day until he began treatment with cannabis oil in the US, where medical marijuana is legal, in 2016.
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She said she would be meeting Mr Hurd at the Home Office on Monday afternoon to plead to him "parent to parent" to get the oil back.
A spokesman said yesterday: "The Home Office is sympathetic to the difficult and rare situation that Billy and his family are faced with.
"Whilst we recognise that people with debilitating illnesses are looking to alleviate their symptoms, Border Force has a duty to stop banned substances from entering the UK. Ms Caldwell has, therefore, had cannabis oil seized this morning at Heathrow Airport upon landing from Canada.
"The Policing Minister will meet Ms Caldwell this afternoon."
What is cannabis oil and why does Billy Caldwell need it?
Billy Caldwell can suffer up to 100 epileptic seizures in a day, and his mother Charlotte previously got cannabis oil for Billy’s treatment from the US.
This medicine reportedly had stopped Billy’s seizures but when they were unable to travel for a new supply, she took Billy to their GP.
Recognising this as a “unique” case, Dr Brendan O’Hare prescribed the medicine to Billy, but was told last year by the Department of Health and the health board he should not continue to do so.
Cannabis oil is a medicine containing a part of the cannabis plant called cannabidiol (CBD).
It does not contain the ‘psychoactive’ part of cannabis – the part that causes the feeling of being high.
Last year, the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) classed CBD as a medicine in the UK, but it has not been licensed as a medicine.
The agency has said that CBD products must be licensed as this means they “have to meet safety, quality and efficacy standards”.
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In 2017, Billy became the first person in the UK to receive a prescription after his local GP Brendan O'Hare began writing scripts.
The doctor was summoned to a meeting with Home Office officials recently and told to desist.
Ms Caldwell is worried the cycle of fits "will eventually kill him", and has struggled to contain her son's seizures without access to the cannabis oil.
She said Billy has been free of the debilitating episodes for a considerable period since the treatment.
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The Department of Health in Northern Ireland said it did not comment on individual cases, but added that Cannabis is a Class B controlled drug and has not yet been licensed in the UK as a medicine.
"However, an application made by a specialist clinician based in the UK to prescribe a Schedule 1 controlled drug on the basis of relevant medical and scientific evidence and guidance may be considered within existing legislative provisions and appropriate clinical supervision arrangements.
"No such clinically supported applications have been received by the department," it confirmed.
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