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Desperate parents are buying dangerous cannabis oils from unscrupulous drug traffickers on Facebook to treat their sick children, a Mail on Sunday survey found.
Some of the oils sold online contain more than 400 times the legal limit of a psychoactive ingredient that can cause hallucinations and even cause psychosis.
It is feared that hundreds of parents have been supported by claims from drug dealers – unsupported by clinical evidence – that their treatments would cure epilepsy, chronic pain and even cancer.
Resellers fail to warn of the risks that there is to give children high-strength cannabis oil, which is four times more potent than the world's most powerful street drug.
Cannabis oil over 400 times the legal limit is sold to parents via Facebook. A Mail on Sunday reporter bought some who arrived hidden in a Valentine's bag
Although cannabis products containing cannabidiol (CBD) are now legal, more than 0.2% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive ingredient, is prohibited by law, with penalties of up to five years. prison and 14 years of information.
Yet, a journalist on the cover of Mail on Sunday, who was going through Facebook forums for parents who badfed sick children, was able to buy cannabis oils whose laboratory tests had shown levels of THC exceeding far 80%.
Cannabis containing small amounts of carefully controlled THC would help young children with severe epilepsy, including Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley, for whom Interior Minister Sajid Javid has authorized the use of cannabis. of this drug after the high-profile campaigns conducted by their mother.
Last night, Billy's mother, Charlotte Caldwell, expressed her horror at the online sale of unregulated cannabis with high THC levels: "It could kill a child."
She added, "It's anger and fear that makes me think that people without expertise are taking advantage of desperate families. Instead of being free and risky, we urgently need formal clinical trials.
Cannabis oil bought from a different buyer has entered a pencil case (photo) with smiling faces
The government needs to commit to a trial schedule so that safe and effective cannabis medicines can be put in place as quickly as possible. We must make progress before something tragic happens. "
Posing as a father on Facebook groups where parents discuss giving cannabis to their children, our reporter found links with sellers of illegal products. There is nothing to suggest that those who constituted these groups – or administered them – did wrong.
One of the resellers we contacted called himself a "hidden healer" and posted a Facebook ad for "high-quality full-spectrum THC oil," claiming that it "kills cancer, repairs the tube digestive, helps fight against epilepsy, …
Billy Caldwell takes cannabis oil for his severe epilepsy. His mother Charlotte campaigned for the legalization of the substance
The seller offered our reporter a range of cannabis products on the black market, including a "60 ml course" for £ 1,500 and "Chewy Sweets" for £ 25. The dealer did not warn of the potential health risks badociated with the use of high concentration illegal cannabis oil.
The cannabis oil was mailed into syringes in a yellow-colored pencil case with a matching ruler, pen, and pencil sharpener. The badysis done by the TicTac Drug Identification Lab in London revealed that the sample contained 86% THC and a very low level of CBD.
Our reporter was also able to buy illegal products from another dealer called 'That Healer Chick'. The dealer sent a simple 5 ml syringe filled with cannabis oil. She too was disguised – this time, she was sent in a Valentine's Day bag containing also leaf-wrapped chocolate hearts with pink and red confetti. The lab found that the oil was just as strong – 82% THC with a very low level of CBD.
Alfie Dingley has also been the face of a campaign to legalize cannabis oil. He also suffers from severe epilepsy
Neurologist Professor Orrin Devinsky, a global expert on the use of cannabis-based medicines for the treatment of children with epilepsy, warned parents against giving their children "unregulated" cannabis oils At high THC levels.
He said, "We do not have data on safety and effectiveness. When [the medicine] is rich in THC, we know that it can have psychiatric effects. "
"Hidden Healer" told The Mail on Sunday: "Why are you trying to eliminate people who do good things?" I do not sell to any child. "This" chick healer "said:" Are you aware that there are real sick people in the UK who benefit from cannabis oil? "
A spokesman for Facebook said, "We thank The Mail on Sunday for bringing these pages to our attention. They have now been removed. & # 39;
A mother of a seriously ill child sees her supplies seized by customs
Emma Appleby was seen confiscating cannabis oil at Heathrow Airport, intended for her daughter Teagan
A mother whose daughter suffers every day from hundreds of crises burst into tears after customs officers seized cannabis oil for medical purposes on their flight back to Britain yesterday.
The moving scenes at Southend Airport in Esbad, where Emma Appleby arrived with Teagan, a nine-year-old, echoed high-profile cases that had prompted the government to authorize the government. use of the medicine to treat other children.
The mother and daughter of Aylesham, Kent, were returning from Holland after buying £ 4,600 of cannabis oil, containing 2% of the THC active ingredient, ten times the legal limit .
Teagan has a rare chromosomal disorder called Isodicentric 15 which makes her undergo up to 300 seizures a day. His mother thinks that the cannabis oil can help, but their lot was seized by officials who then let the mother and daughter go.
To fight the tears, Emma said she was "completely devastated". She told the Mail on Sunday: "We had no choice but to go abroad. She desperately needs this medicine. This is our last resort. '
She added that Teagan had epileptic seizures "every night, every day," adding, "I do not know if she'll get up in the morning."
They went to Holland for the medicine after the doctors refused to prescribe it. Specialist clinicians are now allowed to prescribe cannabis-based medications after a legal change last fall. Until now, Alfie Dingley – whose campaign mother, Hannah Deacon, was with Emma and Teagan – and Billy Caldwell are the only children to have received the drug in the NHS.
Data on the safety and efficacy of this drug in people with Teagan's epileptic seizure, called Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, are limited. As a result, many doctors do not prescribe it.
Upon their return to Southend, Conservative MP Sir Mike Penning, Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prescribed Medicinal Cannabis, said: "I will ask all my fellow parliamentarians to report this medication to Emma as soon as possible. as possible.
However, it is feared that the fate of the Appleby is used by those who want to further relax the British laws on cannabis. While their trip was funded with £ 10,000 donations via the JustGiving crowdfunding site, the family was also supported by the End Our Pain campaign group.
End Our Pain received £ 50,000 from a UK private equity group, Kingsley Capital Partners. KCP hopes to make millions of dollars selling cannabis for recreational purposes in the United States and wants to turn its cannabis products "Mr Nice" into a global brand.
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