Billy Caldwell started to take cannabis oil to help subdue his epileptic seizures after seeing a childhood epilepsy expert in California. It was Douglas Nordli, director of paediatric neurology at the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles who gave Billy the medicine.

Medical Marijuana was made legal in California, late last year. Mexico also made medical Marijuana legal in December of last year despite the fact drug cartels are a constant problem in the country.

On the 19th April 2017 Billy was given his prescription which was just in time as his medical supplies from California were to run out on that Friday.

Cannabis prescription brings great joy

Charlotte Caldwell, Billy’s mother said she was “delighted” that her local GP in Northern Ireland signed the prescription. This allowed Billy to continue to take cannabis oil to treat his epilepsy.

It was GreenLight Medicine a pharmaceutical company in Dublin, which develops the cannabis based medicine.

It is the compound in cannabis known as CBD (an abbreviation for cannabidiol) oil which helps to combat Billy’s epilepsy. Doctor Brendan O’Hare made clear that this was a “unique and unusual” situation. In some cases, it has been proven to help sufferers, however, it does not seem to have positive effects on all patients.

His mother Charlotte Caldwell said that at Billy’s worst period he could suffer from 100 fits a day but the cannabis oil has kept him seizure free for 82 days. Billy has been suffering from epilepsy since he was a baby.

This move benefits others as well

His mother is especially happy that what has happened to Billy can benefit other children who suffer from epilepsy who can benefit by taking CBD.

This has been proven to be a real-life saver for Billy, as the only other alternative was to fly back to California to extend his prescription.

Cannabis is a class B drug in the UK, still CBD which does not lead to the usual ‘high’ brought about by Marijuana, has been reclassified as a medicine by the Medical & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

This gives doctors the authority to prescribe CBD as a medicine in exceptional cases.

At the moment, there is only one licensed cannabis-based medicine in Britain which is designed to reduce muscle spasms in people who have Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is said that certain patients undergoing Chemotherapy may also benefit from medical Marijuana.

According to the charity Epilepsy Action 600,000 people in the UK suffer from the brain condition.