On December 31 following Brexit, when the United Kingdom will no longer be a part of the European Union. Cannabis patients in England will be cut off from their cannabis supply in the Netherlands.
This comes as very bad news for about 40 recorded families that rely on special cannabis oil to treat a rare and severe type of epilepsy. Which is made and supplied by the Netherlands. Despite many protests by families over the years the law has changed and will change again very soon.
Billy Cadwell Case
The story of Billy Cadwell a 12 year old Irish boy. He had previously been able to get his medication through the NHS. One day was stopped at the airport upon returning from Canada with a brand new batch of medicine. They confiscated his medicine and what followed sparked outrage and brought on a great deal of criticism to how the government was handling this.
Billy was rushed to hospital days after his meds were taken at the airport. After rescue medications were ineffective in bringing him out of what was reported to be a “massive intractable epileptic seizure.” The worst part was Billy had been seizure free for 19 months before his medication was confiscated by drugs police.
A spokesperson for UK-based medical cannabis advocacy organization End Our Pain spoke about it. He called the termination of the medical cannabis supply from The Netherlands “a matter of life and death for these children”. A government agency said; it sympathizes with patients. Said that “there is a range of alternative cannabis-based medicines available to UK patients.”
However, according to End Our Pain, officials have issued just three prescriptions for the medication since the 2018 reforms. The medication sourced from The Netherlands costs about £2,000 a month, forcing some families to rely on charity and illegal means to access the medicine.
