British family goes 1,000 miles to raise awareness of medical cannabis

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This week three years ago, the UK Customs Police seized a six-month supply of CBD oil that Charlotte Caldwell had imported from Canada to treat her epileptic son Billy. The 12-year-old boy was deprived of his medicine and suffered life-threatening seizures, and news of his plight quickly spread like wildfire throughout the British press. This public outrage reached such a high point that the UK Home Office finally buckled and agreed to legalize medical cannabis by the end of 2018.

But even though medical marijuana is now technically legal in the UK, most Britons still do not have access to and cannot afford this new medicine. Health officials have only approved two cannabis-based drugs to date, and as of last fall, the country’s public health system had only issued three prescriptions for these treatments. Other families hoping to find cannabis oil for their children have had to import it expensively from Europe – a process made even more difficult by Brexit.

Late last month, Billy and Charlotte Caldwell went on a 1,000 mile walk to raise awareness of a new campaign to expand access to medical cannabis in the UK. Together with friends and supporters, the family went from their home in Northern Ireland to Westminster, where the British government is based. The Caldwells have now completed their journey and hope to meet with health officials to discuss their proposal for government-funded medical cannabis research.

“Myself and Billy are overwhelmed with the fantastic support we have received while traveling the country – we have met friends, supporters and patients and we will not forget any of you,” said Charlotte Caldwell, according to Leafie. “We arrived in Westminster today to meet MPs, deliver my answer to the Prime Minister, and resolve once and for all the agonizing impasse for patients and our wonderful NHS doctors.”

The “I am Billy” campaign aims to improve public access to medicinal cannabis through the UK’s publicly funded healthcare system. First, the activists are asking the UK’s National Institute for Health Research to fund a new clinical trial to get real-world insights into the medical use of cannabis. From there, the campaign hopes to start a nonprofit medical cannabis clinic that will offer affordable drugs while collecting clinical data for further research.

With no access to legal medical cannabis, nearly 1.4 million adults in the UK rely on black market weed to treat chronic pain, anxiety, or a host of other conditions. According to a recent survey, 56 percent of Britons use “street cannabis” on a daily basis to treat symptoms of a chronic illness. Two-thirds of respondents said they would spend £ 99 to £ 199 on black market pot, money that would be better spent on supporting a legal medical marijuana industry – if it existed.

“We kindly request Health Secretary Matt Hancock to sit down with us today to discuss the next steps to help patients gain access to government-funded medical cannabis,” said Charlotte Caldwell, Leafie said. “We have the solution, the know-how and the team is ready to go. Let’s end the misery of cannabis patients by finally giving them access to the drug that works for them while collecting much-needed data on the efficacy and safety of cannabis medicine. “