Kenilworth mother joins cannabis reform group after securing treatment for epileptic son

A Kenilworth mother who successfully secured medical cannabis treatment for her severely epileptic son is now part of a group aimed at helping families with similar problems.
Hannah Deacon has been appointed to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Cannabis on Prescription after campaigning for her son, Alfie Dingley, to have a licence for medical cannabis treatmentHannah Deacon has been appointed to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Cannabis on Prescription after campaigning for her son, Alfie Dingley, to have a licence for medical cannabis treatment
Hannah Deacon has been appointed to the All Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Cannabis on Prescription after campaigning for her son, Alfie Dingley, to have a licence for medical cannabis treatment

Hannah Deacon, who fought for her son Alfie Dingley to receive a licence for the treatment, is now on the All Party Parliamentary Group for Medical Cannabis on Prescription.

The group, co-chaired by Sir Mike Penning MP and Tonia Antoniazzi MP, seeks to reform the Government’s policy on medical cannabis.

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Currently, cannabis is classed by the Government as a Schedule 1 Drug, which means it cannot be used medically without a special licence from the Home Office.

Although the group was founded in May, Hannah was asked to join on Wednesday July 18.

Hannah said she was ‘honoured’ to be asked to join the group.

She added: “I hope in this capacity I can do all I can to quickly enable patients to be prescribed medical cannabis by their doctor or GP.

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“The current arrangements have flaws and we hope that this will only be a short term interim process and that the recommendation to reschedule medical cannabis will happen very quickly.”

Alfie, six, suffers from a rare form of epilepsy called PCDH19, which causes him to suffer intense ‘clusters’ of seizures.

He used to be treated with steroids, which left him in hospital for a long time and interfered with his schooling.

But his seizures’ intensity and frequency were drastically reduced when treated with cannabis in the Netherlands last year.