United Kingdom: Alfie Dingley obtains a 3-month experimental license for medical cannabis

The British Home Office will finally grant Alfie Dingley a three-month experimental license for medical cannabis, according to ITV News.

https://twitter.com/UPAllianceuk/status/968988554058756096

The ministry had had previously denied the family's request Alfie’s case because he believed that cannabis «had no medical benefits» and that this medication «cannot, in practice, be prescribed, administered, or provided to the public» due to its classification as a Schedule 1 controlled substance.

Alfie is a 6-year-old boy who suffers from a very rare form of epilepsy. His mother took him to the Netherlands to try a treatment based on THC and CBD cannabis, and saw a reduction in the number, duration, and severity of his seizures.

Upon her return to the United Kingdom, she had applied for official authorization to use medical cannabis, but her request was denied. Many MPs from across the political spectrum had then come to the defense Alfie’s case and requested an exception for him.

Public Safety Minister Nick Hurd met with Alfie’s parents this week. A spokesperson for the department later stated: «The government has great sympathy for the rare and difficult situation Alfie and his family are facing. The Department of Public Safety wants to explore every option and has met with Alfie’s family to discuss the treatments available to him.»

During the Second reading of the bill to legalize medical cannabis, which was ultimately postponed to July 6 because the obstruction by certain members of Congress, ...the crowd gathered outside Buckingham Palace took the opportunity to call for a review of Alfie’s case.

All this effort has finally paid off. The three-month deadline falls in early July, just before the new date for the second reading in Parliament of the bill to legalize medical cannabis.