Living

Mother of sick boy seeks legalization of medical marijuana

17 of June 2018

FILE - In this June 11, 2018 file photo, Billy Caldwell sits with his mother Charlotte. Former British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Tuesday, June 19 for the government to take steps toward legalizing marijuana. Hague changed his public stance on cannabis policy days after the government relented and allowed a 12-year-old epileptic boy to receive cannabis oil treatment that his mother said was needed to prevent life-threatening seizures. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he was convinced after talking to clinicians that the boy, Billy Caldwell, faced a medical crisis.(Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, File),FILE - In this June 11, 2018 file photo, Billy Caldwell sits with his mother Charlotte. Former British Foreign Secretary William Hague called Tuesday, June 19 for the government to take steps toward legalizing marijuana. Hague changed his public stance on cannabis policy days after the government relented and allowed a 12-year-old epileptic boy to receive cannabis oil treatment that his mother said was needed to prevent life-threatening seizures. Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he was convinced after talking to clinicians that the boy, Billy Caldwell, faced a medical crisis.(Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP, File)

LONDON (AP) — The mother of an epileptic boy at the center of a debate over medical marijuana in the U.K. is calling for an urgent meeting with ministers to discuss liberalizing British policy.

Charlotte Caldwell said Sunday she also wants assurances from the government that her 12-year-old son Billy will be able to keep receiving cannabis oil once a 20-day emergency supply approved by the government runs out.

Caldwell wants to make sure there isn’t “another battle” over the medicine that she believes has warded off potentially life-threatening seizures for her son.

Billy remains hospitalized in London for severe seizures after border agents at Heathrow Airport confiscated the cannabis oil his mother was bringing in from Canada.

Former drugs minister Norman Baker has backed her call for an overhaul of laws prohibiting marijuana for medicinal purposes.