After a week-long struggle, Home Secretary Sajid Javid used 'an exceptional power' on Saturday to return some of the medicine confiscated from the mother when she tried to bring it into the UK from Canada
THIS is the moment a severely epileptic boy was reunited with his medical marijuana - as his mum demanded that top politicians change to "outdated" laws.
Charlotte Caldwell said today that she wanted ministers to assure her she would not face "another battle" for 12-year-old Billy when the 20-day supply returned by the Home Office runs out.
The Government's initial refusal, and then its change in stance, has prompted renewed debate on legislation, with a Conservative MP who leads a drug policy parliamentary group saying existing laws are "frankly absurd".
After a week-long struggle, Home Secretary Sajid Javid used "an exceptional power" on Saturday to return some of the medicine confiscated from the mother when she tried to bring it into the UK from Canada.
Ms Caldwell, 50, said: "I want nobody in Government, and nobody who has been impacted by massively outdated laws, to be under any impression that this is job done. This is just the start.
"I want to meet the Home Secretary and Health Secretary (Jeremy Hunt), urgently, this week, to get assurance that not only will Billy's meds never again be removed, but to call for an urgent review of the overall policy on medical cannabis as it affects everyone who could benefit."
Ms Caldwell, of Castlederg in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland, had seven bottles confiscated at Heathrow Airport customs on June 11 after she brought them in from Toronto.
The emergency measure allowed for one to be returned and Ms Caldwell reported an improvement in her son's condition after taking the drug, but when this runs out a new application will have to be made for a licence.
"He has 20 days worth of anti-epileptic seizure drugs. What happens after that? Another battle?" Ms Caldwell said.
Many other countries, including much of the US, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, have legalised the substance's use medicinally.
But the UK has not, leading Ms Caldwell to claim Britain is "stuck in the 1970s" in its attitude to drug policy.
A Whitehall source told the : "Cases such as this obviously raise questions about the UK licensing regime, particularly when other advanced economies like Canada are able to license certain products.
"There is a concern that we're behind the curve on this, which is why it would make sense to consider a review.'"
Ms Caldwell credits the oil with keeping the boy's seizures at bay, saying he was seizure-free for more than 300 days while using it, but it contains tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is restricted in the UK.
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”.
Another boy, Alfie Dingley, six, also suffers from the same disease and can suffer 30 seizures each day.
His mum Hannah Deacon hopes that he too could be treated with the medical marijuana.
Crispin Blunt, an MP who co-chairs an all-parliamentary group on drug policy reform, has described the current stance on marijuana's medicinal properties as "crazy".
"We need to get serious now about getting the benefits of these medicines, and move to change the frankly absurd position we are in," he said, according to the BBC.
Former drugs minister Norman Baker has described the confiscation as "cruel and inhumane", and renewed calls for a law change.
"It became very clear to me in my time as drugs minister that cannabis has useful medical properties and, indeed, that it is the only substance that works for some people, a situation widely recognised in other countries," the Liberal Democrat said.
