The cannabis was confiscated from a mother who bought it in Holland
A desperate British mother tried to bring medical cannabis into UK for her little daughter, who suffers from epilepsy.
Emma Appleby and her daughter Teagan, nine years old, were stopped at the airport when they returned from Amsterdam.
The desperate mother bought £4,000 of THC oil capsules in the Amsterdam because the doctor refused prescribing it in UK. The mother and her daughter were released, but the cannabis was seized. It is illegal bringing cannabis into the country without a prescription. In UK doctors can prescribe cannabis since 2018. But the truth is that very few do it due to the tremendous bureaucracy and ignorance.
Doctors in UK didn’t want to prescribe Teagan THC. But her mother thinks the herb can help reduce her daughter’s symptoms. She began a crowdfunding campaign and she got a three-month supply of THC and Cannabidiol (CBD), in The Hague.
After the cannabis was seized, she told the media she was completely gutted because the police took everything. Mrs Appleby explained in the Netherlands that her daughter had seizures every night and that she didn’t know if she was going to wake up in the morning.
Medical cannabis was the last solution for them. They had already tried all the medications prescribed without results.
Even though it is legal in the country for the professionals to prescribe THC, most of them don’t do it because they say there aren’t evidences enough that it’s safe and efficient. But the truth is that most doctors have not knowledge on the issue.
The government says it is necessary to obtain new guidelines to be drawn up for doctors. It’s important to promote more clinical research, they say. A government spokesman explained that the decision to prescribe medical cannabis for medical purposes is a clinical matter for specialist hospital doctors, made with the patients and considering clinical guidance based on the best international research and evidences.
The same spokesman said that the Border Force acted according to the law. They have to enforce the law and stop any unlawful import of substances into the UK.
In the mean time, Teagan doesn’t get better and her mother insists. If there is any possibility that medical cannabis can help her daughter, she will go for it.