IMAGINE you watch your child having 100 seizures a day. Something you or the various traditional medicines available to you could not treat.
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Imagine you watch your daughter wondering if that seizure she is having might well be her last.
That is the dilemma that Lake Heights parents Yvonne and Daniel Cooper are faced with each and every day.
‘’I don’t want to break the law, but I don’t want to bury my eight-year-old child,’’ Yvonne said.
When you read that quote and understand the depth of what it is saying, it’s hard not to be emotionally challenged.
You could not wish that situation on any parent.
Ms Cooper has launched an online petition calling on state and federal governments to provide ‘’immediate amnesty and access’’ to the medicinal cannabis for children like Sienna who suffer from severe seizure disorders.
We in this region know the story of Ben Oakley well.
Mr Oakley suffers from stiff person syndrome and had suffered 600 spasms in four years, some lasting up to two hours.
Since undergoing treatment with medicinal cannabis he has had just three seizures in two years.
The issue has the attention of state and federal governments and both are moving to advance the issue.
While that’s a positive, families such as the Cooper family in Lake Heights are faced with some awful choices. There are those who would say, why don’t people just break the law.
For that there was a perfect response by someone on the Illawarra Mercury Facebook page.
“For those saying "just break the law" its sadly not that easy,” the reader commented.
“Medicinal cannabis is not what you would buy from your local dealer.
“It doesn't even give that high that traditional uses would get.
“It needs to be legalised so it can be produced, which then makes it safe to use and very effective, the law has to change so that it can be mass produced and even available in the first place.
“Narrow minded politicians who are standing in the way need to be educated and this wouldn't even be an issue.”
The Cooper family would totally agree and given the response and support, there would be many more families who would agree.