Vera Twomey: I’m ready to stay outside Dáil until resolution

Cork woman Vera Twomey arrived at the Dáil yesterday with hundreds of supporters after walking from Cork to Dublin to demand access to medicinal cannabis for her daughter.

Vera completed the final part of her journey in a wheelchair because she injured her knee halfway through the 260km journey.

Her supporters were in jubilant mood as they arrived at Kildare St in Dublin city centre.

Vera believes the life of her daughter, Ava, who has a rare for of epilepsy called Dravet’s syndrome, is at risk because she is denied a treatment available in 11 countries in Europe.

“I am willing to commit to staying outside the Dáil until a resolution is found to this matter,” she said.

Vera said two paediatric neurologists are prepared to go abroad to get the necessary training to treat children such as Ava.

Anti-Austerity Alliance-People Before Profit TD, Gino Kenny, who walked with Vera, said his Cannabis for Medicinal Use Regulation Bill would allow doctors to recommend cannabis-based medicine for patients.

Possible 18-month wait for cannabis law

It could take up to 18 months to legislate for the use of cannabis to treat specific medical conditions, a health official has claimed.

An access programme is being set up for a limited number of conditions to be treated with cannabis-based treatments.

However, cannabis is a “schedule one” controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act and is the most widely illegal drug in Ireland. The principal officer of the Department of Health’s medicines and controlled drugs unit, Eugene Lennon said it was possible to amend existing legislation and that could take six months.

“The misuse of drugs area is horrendously complex,” Mr Lennon told a meeting of the Oireachtas health committee.

“It is complex and we are working away to see what is possible but I think we will be open to finding a solution that gives us a quicker result and that may be through secondary legislation under the Misuse of Drugs Act.”

Vera Twomey with her daughter Ava, who has a rare form of epilepsy. Picture: John Delea

Mr Lennon said at least one new regulation would be required, together with changes to a number of existing regulations to allow for the access programme.

While the access programme is being established it is open to Health Minister Simon Harris to grant a licence under the Misuse of Drugs Act for access to cannabis for medical purposes in individual cases.

Mr Lennon said only two licence applications had been made. They were from GPs but only one had been granted. An application made before Christmas took three weeks to process. A further application at the end of January had not reached a point where it was possible to make a recommendation to grant a licence.

The hearing took place as Vera Twomey arrived in Dublin following her 260km trek from Cork to protest against a decision to restrict her seven-year-old daughter, Ava, from accessing cannabis-based medication to treat a rare form of epilepsy.

Ms Twomey applied last year to the State’s health chiefs to use products derived from the drug to ease the effects of Dravet syndrome and severe seizures her daughter suffers.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority has recommended access to medicinal cannabis under a monitored, five-year, programme confined to a number of specific illnesses.

The Health Products Regulatory Authority chief executive Lorraine Nolan told the committee that the authority could not recommend widespread access to cannabis for the treatment of a range of medical conditions.

Under the five-year pilot programme, cannabis-treated patients will be under a consultant’s care with regular reports sent to the Department of Health.