A MOTHER who has been fighting for access to medicinal cannabis for her son says she has a new sense of hope following a decision to ease the ban.

Emma Smith, 34, of Swain House, has a five-year-old son called Oscar who has myoclonic astatic epilepsy – also known as Doose syndrome – and suffers up to 300 seizures a day.

Mrs Smith and her family have tried many medications for Oscar, and are desperate for him to be given cannabis-based Epidiolex – a medication created specifically to treat forms of epilepsy.

Doctors in the UK will be able to prescribe cannabis-derived medicine after an announcement yesterday that the Government has relaxed the laws governing access to the substance.

On hearing the news, Mrs Smith said: “I had a big beam on my face and I was straight on the phone to hospitals to push Oscar’s case – my husband rang immediately and asked if I’d seen it.”

The decision comes at a particularly important time for the family after Oscar was back in hospital.

Doctors wanted to give him a dose of a new emergency medicine but Mrs Smith raised the issue that he’d tried the medication once before at Bradford Royal Infirmary and it had caused breathing problems.

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Mrs Smith said that shortly after the emergency medication was given on this occasion, Oscar had to be blue-lighted to Airedale Hospital after his oxygen and heart-rate dropped. On arrival he was unresponsive.

Eventually, Oscar came round on his own, but following the scare for the family, Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, got in touch and wrote to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, on behalf of Oscar urging a review into his case as a matter of urgency due to there being no options left.

Mrs Smith is now hopeful that the legalisation will allow easier access to Epidiolex. She said: “It’s really important because this whole experience was really frightening.

“In light of the decision, I’m very hopeful as we can try get some sort of relief for Oscar.”