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The Government examines the legal status of cannabis products as parents of children with severe and difficult-to-treat epilepsy, claiming that it is the only thing that helps to control seizures of their children. [19659003] 12-year-old Billy Caldwell recently made headlines when British customs officers confiscated seven bottles of cannabis oil from his mother, Charlotte Caldwell, who had flown to Canada to bring the product back.
Billy and his parents were finally allowed to bring oil back to their home in Northern Ireland, but only after obtaining a special Home Office temporary permit. Other parents of children with severe epilepsy – who may experience hundreds of seizures a day – say that they are forced to break the law and get them. products of dubious quality in their attempts to obtain medicinal cannabis
.
The cannabis plant contains many different compounds called cannabinoids. The two most important are tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). While THC is the compound that makes the most users of recreational cannabis, CBD is of great interest to researchers for its medical properties. In itself, CBD has been shown to be promising in the treatment of many health problems, including multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, the pain and the Tourette.
This is Sativex, used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. It contains CBD and THC and has been subject to rigorous safety tests and clinical trials. Epidiolex, a highly purified form of CBD used to treat epilepsy, has been approved in the United States but is still awaiting approval in the EU
With cannabis-based drugs for epilepsy and other disorders such as anxiety not yet available in the UK, people are looking for unregulated cannabis oils and other products from suppliers online or at
What is cannabis oil?
Cannabis oil is a generic term. Dr. David Potter, a cannabis expert involved in both the production of medical grade CBD and the analysis of illicit cannabis, says that these products can vary tremendously in terms of how they are made and what they are. They contain. "Some of the oils we have analyzed are pretty close to what they say they contain, others are far away," he says. Oils are often marketed as food additives so as not to have to meet the stringent quality standards required by the drugs.
How does CBD work?
CBD is only one of more than 100 compounds known as plant cannabinoids. These substances act on our "endocannabinoid system," a complex part of the nervous system that helps regulate various processes – including our sleep cycle, appetite, pain, mood, and memory
Cannabinoids like CBD and THC bind to receptors in this system through the body and brain, sometimes activating and sometimes repressing or blocking them.
The exact reason why CBD seems to be so helpful in treating various disorders is not clear. It does not have the intoxicating effects of THC, and seems strangely to have almost the opposite effect of high doses of THC. Research shows that CBD has suppressive properties of appetite, unlike the famous "nibbling" induced by cannabis, and that it has anti-anxiety and antipsychotic properties unlike paranoia and psychosis-induced by high doses of THC. These are the properties that led people to buy CBD oil to try to relieve problems such as insomnia and anxiety.
Is cannabis oil legal in the UK? It is a Schedule 1 drug, that is to say, classified without therapeutic value and illegal. Although breeders develop plants with high levels of CBD and low levels of THC, it is impossible to grow a cannabis plant that does not contain any THC. As a result, many cannabis oils may contain small amounts of THC as well as CBD. According to the Ministry of the Interior, any material that contains more than 0.05% THC is a Schedule 1 drug, which means that it is classified as having no therapeutic value and is illegal. Currently, in the UK, a brand of CBD oil contains less than 0.05% THC and is now available in supermarkets such as Holland & Barrett.
What about the rest of the world?
Medicinal cannabis plays all over the world. In Canada, high CBD products are legal and can be purchased in stores; It is in Canada that Billy Caldwell's mother got high-grade cannabis oil confiscated in the UK – she is also the director of a cannabis oil company. However, in other countries, all cannabis products remain completely illegal.
Can cannabis be legalized in the UK soon?
In June, the Chief Medical Officer of England, Dame Sally Davies, issued a report. therapeutic benefit "of certain CBD-based cannabis products. After additional pressure from the campaign groups, Sajid Javid, UK Home Secretary, has authorized specialist doctors in the UK to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medicines for patients with "exceptional clinical need"
.
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