”I don’t want to break the law, but I don’t want to bury my eight-year-old child.”
They are the words of a Lake Heights mum that have struck a chord with tens of thousands of people across the country and beyond.
Yvonne Cooper’s eight-year-old daughter, Sienna, suffers from severe seizures and she fears her little girl could die without legal access to medicinal cannabis.
Last week, in a last-ditch plea for help, Ms Cooper launched an online petition that called on state and federal health ministers to fast-track Sienna’s “life-saving access” to the drug.
Ms Cooper’s change.org petition, titled “Our baby girl is dying in front of us – please help”, has since captured the attention of supporters across the world.
Just over a week after it was set up with an initial goal of about 10,000 signatures, the petition had 78,985 supporters (and counting) late on Tuesday. Some of them were from as far afield as the United Kingdom, Mongolia and the United States.
Ms Cooper said she was blown away by the support.
“It was just incredible. We’re very overwhelmed by the amount of support, to be honest,” she said.
“It just kind of goes to show, as well, that so many people support the cause, not just Sienna, but medicinal cannabis itself.”
Ms Cooper said the family would have been happy with 10,000 signatures – a figure that was reached within just “three or four days”.
Medicinal cannabis ‘being used to treat epilepsy’
Children with severe epilepsy have access to cannabis-based medication, the state’s health body says.
The Mercury asked NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard to respond to a petition set up by Lake Heights mum Yvonne Cooper, whose daughter suffers severe seizures.
The questions were redirected to NSW Health’s Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation.
A NSW Health spokesman said legal pathways had been established to allow doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis for their patients, in certain circumstances.
“Schedule 4 cannabidiol products do not require an authority from NSW Health … they are approved solely by the Commonwealth’s Therapeutic Goods Administration,” he said.
“A number of children with severe epilepsy are currently accessing a cannabidiol-only product through a compassionate access scheme sponsored by the NSW government.
“Adults are also enrolling in a privately-funded clinical trial for epilepsy using a topical cannabidiol gel.”
Full NSW Health response:
“Legal pathways have been established in Australia for doctors to prescribe, in certain circumstances, medicinal cannabis for their patients – and they have been doing so in NSW for a number of years, including through clinical trials.
“Doctors in NSW must comply with both Commonwealth and State laws to prescribe cannabis products (this is, of course, true of any medicine).
“Access to unregistered cannabis-based medicines is regulated under both Commonwealth and State legislation.
“Schedule 4 cannabidiol products do not require an authority from NSW Health – rather they are approved solely by the Commonwealth’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), so no NSW Health authorities are required.
“A number of children with severe epilepsy are currently accessing a cannabidiol-only product through a compassionate access scheme sponsored by the NSW Government.
“Adults are also enrolling in a privately-funded clinical trial for epilepsy using a topical cannabidiol gel.
“To prescribe other cannabis-based medicines doctors require an authority from both the TGA and NSW Health.
“The type of information required of practitioners is similar to the information required to prescribe any unregistered medicine in a NSW public hospital.
“It must be stressed, however, that it’s up to individual medical practitioners to decide whether they feel an application to prescribe a medicinal cannabis product is an appropriate therapeutic step for their patients – having taken into account the available evidence for use; the potential benefits and risks; and that they have already attempted treatment with regulated products that have been assessed for efficacy, safety and quality.
“In recognising that there is not currently a safe, ready supply of locally-produced medicinal cannabis products, the Commonwealth Minister for Health announced earlier this year measures to enable the controlled importation by approved providers of product from international sources.
“This will facilitate faster access by authorised prescribers for patients with the necessary approvals.
“Both NSW Health and the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation are available to support practitioners interested in prescribing medicinal cannabis products and have already been working with some interested clinicians.”
credit:420intel.com