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A mum is being forced to act as a "drugs mule" to get medicine for her nine-year-old daughter.
Emma Appleby from Aylesham is travelling to Holland for the second time in a couple of weeks, to obtain cannabis oil for daughter Teagan who suffers from a severe form of epilepsy.
Six weeks ago, Emma went on a similar trip but was devastated when the drugs were seized at the airport.
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Since they were returned to her last month, Teagan’s condition has greatly improved. The little girl - who previously had up to 300 fits a day - is now having only about five a day, and only in her sleep.
Emma said: "She's doing really really well - she's hardly having seizures.
"She hasn't had any while she's been awake for about two weeks.
"Her walking is going really well, she's feeding herself - she's like a different child. It's amazing."
'If you go abroad, it's about £2,500 - but it's over £6,000 to import it here because the import costs are so high...' - Emma Appleby
But now, Emma only has about four or five weeks of cannabis oil left.
Following NHS trials showing cannabis oil reduces seizures, it can be legally prescribed by specialist doctors.
But delays have followed due to restrictive guidelines and supply issues.
Teagan's health has improved since taking medicinal cannabis
Teagan's mobility has greatly improved since she received the medication
"I could get a private prescription," explained Emma.
"But if I did I'd have to pay the import costs on top on top of the medication.
"If you go abroad, it's about £2,500 - but it's over £6,000 to import it here because the import costs are so high."
Instead, Emma is planning to return to Holland to get more medication for her poorly little girl.
She is raising money through a crowdfunding page - which has already amassed £10,000 in donations that helped finance her trip last month, and will go towards getting more medication for Teagan.
"I don't want to be breaking the law and going over there," she said. "It's crazy. It's taking all of our money. I'm just hoping to get whatever I can.
"We've got very supportive doctors on the NHS. I think I may have a doctor who's happy to prescribe, but it's the funding."
Emma is awaiting a panel hearing to find out whether NHS funding will be available.
"There's almost no point getting the prescription before sorting out the funding," she said. "The medication would probably be much cheaper for the NHS, but it's finding someone who's happy to pay for it."
Dover and Deal MP Charlie Elphicke has backed Emma's campaign for an NHS prescription, by raising the matter with the Home Office and the Department of Health.
Last Monday, he spoke in Parliament as part of a debate on medicinal cannabis - which Emma watched from the public gallery.
Mr Elphicke asked the House: “Should she not be supported and helped? Should she not be understood as having the compassion that every parent has for their child?
“Is it not wrong that she is effectively being declared by the law to be acting as some kind of drugs mule?
“I do not think that it is right. There has to be change.
“All of us understand that we need to have evidence and clinical trials. We understand the need for proper processes.
“But none of us can understand why this is taking so long. We cannot understand why we are so bad at dealing with pain management in this country. We are just not good enough at it at all.”
