Jorja ’ s medical notes before cannabis said she would die ; it was as cut and dry as that … I was told to say goodbye to my daughter .
Desperate father Robin Emerson is pleading with the government to ease medical cannabis laws as he fights to save his daughter ’ s life .
Jorja , five , was born with severe epilepsy and suffered up to 30 seizures a day , until she defied the odds with the help of medical marijuana .
But , with the only remaining doctor who was authorised to prescribe cannabis now retired , Jorja – as well as thousands of other children – are once again at risk .
Dad Robin said : “ Jorja ’ s medical notes before cannabis said she would die ; it was as cut and dry as that … I was told to say goodbye to my daughter .
“ Lots of children are having seizures and dying and if the Government sits back and allows this to happen , they must understand they have blood on their hands .”
Parents like Robin are furious that medicinal cannabis has been legal for four years , but GPs are still not allowed to prescribe it .
He is one of an army of advocates who want a change in the law so that parents are not forced to travel abroad or pay for private access to keep their children alive .
MPs are also beginning to take notice . In a recent Commons debate , Liberal Democrat Christine Jardine said : “ Despite significant change by the government , we have not made the intended progress .
“ Families are spending upwards of £ 1,000 a month to secure vital medication for their children that they should be able to get on the NHS .”
Conservative MP Crispin Blunt said that parents of epileptic children were even risking jail by looking to illicit channels to get the medication they needed .
He said : “ No parent or patient should face a prison sentence for treating a medical condition and prioritising the interest of those for whom they provide and care .
“ The issue has to do with the public stigma around the word ‘ cannabis ’, but that is utterly unrelated to any assessment of the evidence of risk … we have to take ourselves away from coming to a view having seen that word .”
Blunt highlighted that the UK is a bioscience leader and cannabis-based medicines should be a part of our development .
He said : “ If we put our reputation ahead of the evidence and what we ought to enable for our citizens , shame on us .”
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