MPs condemn UK cannabis laws after epileptic boy's medication seized

Urgent reform called for after government denies Billy Caldwell access to treatment
The Guardian (UK)
Tuesday, June 12, 2018

MPs have criticised the UK’s cannabis laws and called for urgent reform after a boy had his first epileptic seizure in 300 days because the government had ordered his doctor to stop prescribing him potentially life-saving cannabis oil. Charlotte Caldwell, whose son Billy, 12, has scores of seizures every day without cannabis oil, had his medicine confiscated from her by customs agents at Heathrow. Caldwell was not cautioned for trying to “openly smuggle” the substance into the UK from Canada, but was instead invited to the Home Office to meet the minister of state, Nick Hurd, who told her it would not be returned.