Watford family calls for medicinal cannabis to be made readily accessible
A family in Hertfordshire wants cannabis to be made free and available through the NHS for all eligible patients.
Five years have gone since a legislation was passed to make medicinal cannabis available through the NHS, but not enough has been done to make it available to all those in need.
Since the law changed, only a handful of patients have been prescribed the drug through the NHS, meaning that all those without a prescription are having to pay for it privately.
Elaine Levy is the mother of Fallon, 27, who suffers from epilepsy.
"...I've actually had to sell my home..."
Mrs Levy said: "She spent most of her time in a wheelchair, if we took her out for an hour she would have a drop seizure.
"Every seizure she has is potentially life-threatening, so when we found our way through medicinal cannabis it literally changed her life."
The drug has proved helpful and even life-changing for her condition, but they are not able to access medicinal cannabis for free.
As it stands, the cost is up to £2000 a month for Fallon's family.
Mrs Levy said: "I've actually had to sell my home to keep up with the expense."
"...the only thing that works is medicinal cannabis..."
Although every step they took was perfectly legal, they are having to privately source the drug, which represents a significant sum of money each month.
Fallon's family even had to travel to the Netherlands to get the drug prescribed to them.
There is also a worry families who cannot afford the drug are having to resort to the black market, which is illegal and could cause a threat due to the uncertainty of the components within the drug.
"No pharmaceutical drug works for Fallon, the only thing that works is medicinal cannabis", she added.
Mrs Levy said a change could be seen in as little as two weeks since using the drug, and her daughter was able to live her life without the need for her wheelchair.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “In 2018, we changed the law to allow specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate, and making it easier to conduct research on these products."
“Licensed cannabis-based medicines can be funded by the NHS where there is clear evidence of their quality, safety and effectiveness."
However, Mrs Levy assures the drug was only made available through the NHS to a little amount of patients, with thousands more in need of it.
She is calling for a change in the prescription service for all patients eligible for the drug to be able to access it for free.