Home Secretary (finally) allows CBD oil for Billy Caldwell.

[dowie]

**Just to point out first this isn't related to some BS claims where people with all sorts of conditions claim they *need* marijuana etc.. CBD oil doesn't contain THC, people don't get high from it etc.. this is someone with a life threatening condition where this treatment actually has been shown to work and consultants are happy with it. Please don't turn the thread into some wider debate about cannabis itself.**

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-b...cannabis-after-boy-hospitalized-idUKKBN1JC0BE

I'm not sure if anyone has followed this but it does seem like it has been a bureaucratic nightmare for the mother. There was already some press coverage of this case back when his GP previously prescribed CBD oil and then was quickly shut down by the authorities. Some more coverage in the press too when his mother, last week, was stopped at Heathrow carrying some CBD oil:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-44442064

Ms Caldwell says Billy's seizures have dramatically reduced while taking the cannabis oil, and she has vowed to keep fighting.

"I take the view that I'd rather have my son illegally alive than legally dead," she said.

"I will just go back to Canada and get more and I will bring it back again because my son has a right to have his anti-epileptic medication in his country, in his own home."

Billy was first given the treatment in the United States, where medical marijuana is legal.

He became the first person in the UK to receive a prescription after his local GP, Brendan O'Hare, began writing them.

The doctor was summoned to a meeting with Home Office officials recently and told to stop.

Hopefully this can help others in a similar situation, it doesn't necessarily mean opening the flood gates California style but for people who have a genuine medical need for treatment like this it does seem ludicrous that this has happened, the Home Office has been aware of this case for over a year now, they know full well it isn't being abused and that there are legitimate medical grounds for the use of CBD oil. Doctors can already prescribe far more addictive and widely abused drugs yet it seems the association with cannabis has prevented some common sense being applied here until now. It is a bit sad that, although they already know full well that this child has a life threatening condition it is only once he's been rushed to hospital and the possibility of some really negative PR becomes apparent that the Home Secretary steps in and does something.

 

[dowie]

BBC quote from another article

ah fair enough, CBD itself doesn't contain THC, some other articles (one in the independent seemed to suggest he was taking two products) - though the main reason I highlighted the lack of THC was to try and avoid this turning into a general marijuana discussion.

The point re: bureaucracy/common sense remains the same.

 

[dowie]

Legalised also encompasses a wide range of possibilities. It’s important to check what people mean when they suggest it... my view on legalisation differs greatly from the ‘lol drugs are a plant, don’t regulate or tax that’ crowd, for example!

Hague seems to mean in general... along lines the "lol drugs are a plant" crowd would be happy with

the Home Secretary on the other hand is interested in the medical uses and was apparently trying to rise the issue in cabinet with the MayBot

I can see why they don't want to open the floodgates and have a California situation where say everyone knows some private GP in London who will prescribe some cannabis for non specific "back ache" wink wink etc... but it has also gone a bit too far in this case in that the GP, prescribing something that clearly isn't being used to get high has found himself being told to stop by the home office - there will be plenty of other drugs with addictive properties or that are widely abused etc.. that he's authorised to dispense.

 

[dowie]

He wants it regulated and taxed, from what I've seen. So that doesn't seem like it'd be what the 'lol drugs are a plant' crowd would be happy with (given I said "‘lol drugs are a plant, don’t regulate or tax that’ crowd"). They'd still kick off about it being regulated by the government and only sold via ways which could be taxed.

CBA circumventing the Torygraph's paywall, so I've only seen stuff like, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jun/19/william-hague-theresa-may-legalise-cannabis

ah yeah, I just mean available in general rather than allowed to be prescribed for some more medical reasons - there are quite a few people out there who would be very happy if it were legalised even if taxed/regulated etc..

 

[dowie]

There are no good arguments against it be available as long as it’s taxed and regulated.

I guess that partly depends on whether you allow for the obvious inconsistency that alcohol and tobacco are already legal, there is the argument in general that drugs ought to be controlled and that there are long term negative effects from drug use and there are also good arguments that relaxed regulation can have a beneficial effects (as per Portugal's example)

(but this is potentially going off topic a bit)

 

[dowie]

I think this is going way off topic (the thread was supposed to be about medical use not general legalisation) also getting wires crossed here - for example where have I said that what you suggested wasn't relaxed regulation? My reply was to the idea that there is no good argument against cannabis not being available which seems a bit silly tbh... it certainly isn't compatible to an anti gay marriage argument.

 

[dowie]

Jesus, some people need to put the internet down and just go get laid.

I've heard of "Omega" being used before

 

[dowie]

If you've been prescribed something by your GP then I'd speak to them about that, it is against the rules for anyone to offer you medical advice on these forums.

I certainly wouldn't want to take anything "alternative" in place of something prescribed by a medical professional. If your GP is happy for you to take something alongside you current meds then that is perhaps another matter, but it is something for you to speak to them about.

 

[dowie]

My best friends boss's wife had s3 breast cancer, the boss owns his own hydroponics company selling legally. He would also get gifts from customers of particularly strong herbs grown by his customers.
He took these gifts and made his own extremely strong Oil, he gave his wife 1gram on a biscuit or toast with butter a day for 3 months increasing the amount slightly every week.
At the end of the 3 months the breast cancer was tiny and in huge remission. The doctor who they had refused any treatment from was baffled and asked had they asked alternative therapies. This boss told him what they had done, withing 2 more months the cancer had completely disappeared. The doctor has now gone on his own quest to see why it isn't used for medicine. That's not the end of the story.

Because that isn't how medical research works....

It isn't like they're the only people who've ever tried taking this stuff while suffering from cancer, you've got no idea whether it had any effect at all and your story isn't just an anecdote but a retelling of an anecdote someone else has told you...

"yeah my mate's boss's wife one used it to treat cancer" - that is just silliness.

I myself developed a rare disease called erethema nodosum, an auto immune disease that caused me to not be able to walk for 3 years. I was told it was permanent at the age of 30.I had to use double crutches to walk to the bathroom.
After 3 years the steroids and pills I took lessened the disease to the point where I could painfully walk small distances once a day, or maybe just gotten used to the pain.
This disease flared up again and spread to my arms, so I couldn't walk or use my arms anymore (I used to play guitar and drums and be very active) it drove me to depression of the kind that was going to end in suicide, seeing my life now being a future of being fed and and taken to the toilet.
This friends boss gave me a large amount of this oil shortly after his wife's cancer has gone, as it was all left over. After 2-3 months of eating a small pea sized amount every day the disease disappeared completely, never to return again for the last 6 years.
I can now use my arms and legs perfectly again since that time. It doesn't end there..
Seeing these results we organised some of this oil for another friend that had developed brain cancer, again to keep the story short he was given this oil and after a few months he too is now totally fine.
True story and I am the proof and the subject of this.

Yeah the placebo effect is wonderful. Though to be fair it perhaps can help with chronic pain, I'd suspect the 3 years of steroids helped a bit there too not to mention that autoimmune diseases can go into remission. Oh and it also cured another mate of bran cancer...??? O RLY? I mean if it was this effective then please do link to the controlled trials of this stuff curing cancer?

 

[dowie]

And your attitude is why it's not being used.

This story, is me. My life over the last 9 years. I Was just sharing it.

In the words of mags "Just LOL"

Honestly jog on with this promoting fake cancer cures BS, you're not helping anyone. What a surprise you produced no trials to back up your anecdotes... It isn't as though cancer patients aren't taking these sorts of products while undergoing trials, if it worked as you said then that would be a major breakthrough and the researchers would be incredibly happy. Back in reality it is funny how no one seems to report this sort of success when testing under controlled conditions.

Oh but it totally did happen and really works as a cure for cancer because some bloke on the internet claims that his mate's boss's wife was cured using it... sure...

 

[dowie]

I'm not a scientist, there were no trials. And there are thousands of people that have had this success. You don't hear about it?

How do you know about the thousands of people then and why does this effect not present itself in clinical trials?

Funny how treating Illness and diseases areone of the worlds biggest profit makers for massive pharmaceutical companies. Trillions of dollars a year.

Funny how they don't have a monopoly on trials yet people always pull out some conspiracy angle when mentioning this supposed miracle cancer cure that seemingly no one has actually published anything on?

Honestly, get a grip, you're talking utter nonsense here and deserve to be called out over it. If you're right then back it up.

Imagine if those drugs and treatments could be replaced with a plant.

Yeah it would be huge... it would benefit loads of people if some magical oil could just cure cancer like that. Back in reality it never seems to actually happen....

 

[dowie]

How would you like me to back it up?
Like I said, this is just me telling my last 9 years of my life on this forum, I've never posted any where else

With evidence, perpetuating BS anecdotes about curing cancer is frankly ridiculous and actually pretty harmful.

Dowies attitude in this thread is frankly disgusting.

I likewise have, anecdotally, seen a bed-bound mate who was on palliative care with weeks to live following prostate cancer that had spread make a huge recovery after taking high doses of CBD oil. He isnt cured, and likely never will be, but he now lives day to day as a normal person.

Guess that makes me spouting nonsense as well right?

No it just makes you a bit naive. People do sometimes recover from cancer. There is no evidence AFAIK that CBD oil is some miracle cure for various forms of cancer as per the silly anecdotes above, if it were then you'd expect to see some evidence of it in trials. It isn't as though people with cancer aren't already taking it for say chronic pain etc... if your claim relates to treatment of chronic pain that then you're conflating this issue with something rather different!

There doesn't seem to be any evidence of miracle cures here and unsurprisingly the lunatics who keep on promoting this nonsense never seem to be able to produce any.

Honestly, people need to stop being so gullible and stop promoting this BS, it is both idiotic and potentially harmful, especially when one of the anecdotes above includes some absolute idiot refusing treatment "The doctor who they had refused any treatment from was baffled" and trying this stuff instead. It is reckless to promote that sort of thing.

The only disgusting attitude in here is that of the conspiracy loons perpetuating this ****.

 

[dowie]

Pretty sure I've made none of the claims you have implied.

Eh? I refer to the anecdotes posted by the other poster.

 

[dowie]

Look, I even plainly said I just wanted to tell my story. I never once said "go and do it".
I'm sorry if I upset you guys, but it's all true.

Yeah of course it is... you didn't just tell your story though, you threw in some BS anecdotes about people supposedly being cured.

I could indeed get my friends boss, who is also my friend as is his wife, I just called him that because I don't want to use names,to provide evidence, as well as my own medical records.
Then what... You will believe me?

Well no... you don't seem to get it at all. People do sometimes recover from cancer for a time, that doesn't mean that you can attribute that to the fact they were also taking some special oil etc... that is the BS element, the claim that some magical oil cured them. Or perhaps the local church was praying for them at the time or maybe they had some acupuncture or they became vegan etc... people come up with all sorts of narratives.

Getting someone to confirm that they had cancer and now they're in remission doesn't prove anything here.

If you want to show that something has an effect in that way then you produce some actual evidence in the form of controlled trials.

You mentioned, for example: "The doctor has now gone on his own quest to see why it isn't used for medicine." What do you mean by this? Is he conducting a trial - if so where? Has he published anything... please do update the thread in due course when this doctor publishes details of this miracle cure which, if it works as well as you claim he surely will do soon.