Charlotte Caldwell wants to meet with the Home Secretary to discuss the current law, with hopes that it can be reformed in order to help her child along with countless others who suffer from the same, or similar conditions.
Billy, who is only 12-years-old, takes the cannabis oil as an anti-seizure medication. The oil contains a substance called Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is currently illegal in the UK but is available for medicinal purposes in other countries such as US, Canada, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
Billy and his mother had recently travelled to Toronto, Canada, to retrieve his most recent six-month supply of medicine - enough to treat up to 100 seizures a day. Yet, once they touched down back in Heathrow airport, the oil was impounded.
Home Office issues special license
This led to Billy suffering from “life-threatening” seizures, due to not being able to use his supply. However, because of this, Sajid Javid from the Home Office issued a special license that would allow him access to his treatment via the hospital. For the next 20 days, Billy will receive the treatment at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, as he is not able to take his treatment back to his own home.
Charlotte Caldwell has claimed that taking the oil has kept her son seizure-free for more than 300 days. Through being treated with the oil again at the hospital, Billy's health already shows an improvement.
The law needs an update
Caldwell wants to meet with Javid, to discuss the matter and ensure that Billy will never get his medication taken from him again, as well as calling for a policy overview on the medical cannabis due to the benefits that it could give to users who urgently need it.
She continues to say that, she does not want another family in the country to go through what they experienced. Saying that it’s “horrific and cruel.”
Charlotte's campaigning for the changing in legalisation is clearly causing a wide discussion.
Crispin Blunt MP, co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on drug policy reform, has since stated that the current law was “frankly absurd”. This is because Blunt claims that the law was based on an “outdated” view that cannabis had no medical purpose. He has announced, that we need to seriously think about the actual benefits that using these medicines can have.
Dan Poulter, the ex-Tory health minister, has stated that the situation that has occurred is ridiculous, pledging that he will be pushing for a change in the law.
Ms Caldwell says Billy only has the 20 days of medication left to suppress his seizures. “What happens after that? Another battle?”