Victoria’s poster family for the push to legalise medicinal marijuana has welcomed the state government’s plan to join the New South Wales trial to test the treatment of small amounts of the drug.
Cooper, the four-year-old son of Mernda couple Cassie Batten and Rhett Wallace, has severe brain damage, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, cerebral abscesses and hydrocephalus, and his epileptic seizures are treated with cannabis oil.
His case received widespread attention last year when the couple’s decision to administer Cooper with medical marijuana oil was broadcast on television show Sunday Night.
Afterwards the couple were questioned by police and faced child protection workers a month later to explain why they were using an illegal substance to treat their child.
Premier Daniel Andrews’ pledge to join NSW’s marijuana trial fulfils a pre-election promise to decriminalise cannabis for treatment of life-threatening illnesses because “families shouldn’t have to choose between breaching the law and watching their child suffer”.
Ms Batten says the trial is a step in the right direction, but she’s eagerly awaiting further details.
“We’re hoping they trial a natural oil rather than a pharmaceutical product.”
The couple plan to hold off registering Cooper for the trial until further details emerge.
The first of three trials is for children, like Cooper, who suffer from severe, drug-resistant epilepsy. There will be between 60 and 200 participants, at least three-quarters of them Victorians. Eligible patients can be enrolled from mid-next year and results are expected within the next two-to-five years.
A Victorian Law Reform Commission report on how the laws could be changed to legalise and regulate the use of medicinal cannabis for people with terminal or life-threatening conditions is due in August.
