The UK government is preparing to allow the emergency use of medical cannabis. British patients have little access to medical cannabis, and a growing number of pediatric epilepsy cases have caused the issue to become a national topic of conversation.

British authorities at London’s Heathrow Airport seized epileptic medication from Billy Caldwell, a 12 year-old Irish pediatric patient. He suffered multiple seizures and was hospitalized.

Alfie Dingley, a 6-year-old epileptic child from the UK, has also gained attention from British Parliament. His parents flew him to the Netherlands to legally obtain treatment. He later got over 300,000 signatures, calling for the legalization of CBD treatments.

These cases have called into question why CBD Oil is currently illegal in the UK, despite it being available for medical purposes throughout Europe.

“To prevent a child from the accessing a medicine that can reduce the likelihood of death from severe seizures as in the case of Alfie Dingley is shocking and cruel, but to literally take a child’s medicine away that has reduced his life threatening seizures from 100 per day to 1 or 2 per month is nothing short of criminal,” says Jonathan Liebling, director for United Patients’ Alliance.

Doctors are now able to order cannabis medicines on an emergency basis, but they must show “exceptional clinical need.” Although this is a good first step, it is likely that more legislation will be passed to make medical cannabis more readily available.