It’s up to Scottish Government to help Murray now– Christine Jardine

I don’t often put my faith in the goodwill of the Scottish Government, but today I am only too willing to make an exception.

Pic Lisa Ferguson 14/08/2019 Murray gray age7 has doose syndrome which is rare form of epilepsy Mum Karen gray has now launched a GoFumdMe page to raise funds for Murraye cannabis oil medication Campaigned over the years for Murray to get cannabis oil , and traveled to Holland for a prescription for the oils and brought them home illegally to give to her son. Murray started the oils in March 2019 and since then the seizures have significantly reduced and in the last 70 days he had had no seizures at all. Bedrolite cbd, whole plant cannabis oil. Bedica thc oil

My plea is that they will read this, and that the Cabinet Secretary for Health will act.

That the political ping-pong between Holyrood and Westminster that disrupts too many lives will be put aside.

For the past two years I have watched obstacle after obstacle be placed in the way of relieving the suffering of a family in my constituency.

Many of you will be familiar with their situation.

The Grays are among the many families in this country who have a member – in this case their son Murray – whose plight can be, and is being, relieved by medicinal cannabis.

But, at the time of writing this it is without the help and support he is entitled to – and I have faith that they will want to give – from the Scottish Government.

But let’s go back to the beginning.

There was a national outcry when it was discovered that there were countless people, many of them children, suffering needlessly because the medicinal cannabis that could ease their pain was 
illegal.

Murray Gray was one of those whose mother worked and campaigned tirelessly to persuade the UK Government to reconsider its policy.

As many readers will know, he suffers from a rare form of epilepsy which can cause dozens of seizures in a day.

When I first became involved with his case my colleague Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP and I quickly learned that the frequency and severity of his seizures was not just affecting Murray’s life but threatening it.

So when then Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced in July 2018 that the cannabis oil which could change Murray, and so many others’, lives would be legalised we were all ecstatic.

If we had know then, however, what we know now, we might not have been quite so confident that the solution was at hand.

The year and a bit since then has been a constant challenge for Karen and so many others like her as the authorities have signally failed to fulfill the promise of that announcement.

And not just at Westminster.

This week Karen was among the many family members who visited the UK parliament to petition for the cannabis oil, which has transformed Murray’s life, to be available on the NHS.

I have seen for myself when he visited my office how he it has allowed him to come out of his shell, enjoy school, laugh and play without the constant threat of a seizure hanging over him.

Karen, too, is a different person relieved of the constant strain and knowledge that, at any time, he could be lost.

But she still cannot relax completely.

That is not down to her but to the inability of those in who, we place our trust to simply to provide the final piece of the jigsaw.

That NHS prescription from a GP in Scotland.

That might sound simple. Indeed it should be.

So far, providing the cannabis oil for Murray has been down entirely to his family.

Like many, many others across the country they have had to fork out up to £2,000 per month for private prescriptions.

And then there is also the cost of the countless trips Karen Gray has made to London – this week being a case in point – because she was told repeatedly by the Scottish Government that it is a Westminster responsibility.

But here is the thing.

It’s not.

A couple of weeks ago I spoke to Health Minister Matt Hancock, who has come under a fair amount of criticism for his fauilure to ensure prescriptions are available in England and Wales.

I questioned him on the issue of the prescriptions in Scotland and he assured me that is something for Holyrood.

I asked for written confirmation and this week it arrived.

I have passed it on to Karen Gray.

In a letter from the UK Government’s department of Health and Social Care, Baroness Nicola Blackwood confirms that: “Although drugs policy is a reserved matter, with decisions taken by the UK Parliament at Westminster, access and funding of medicinal cannabis is devolved.

“Therefore I can confirm that this is a matter for the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland.” There we have it. It is a matter for the Scottish Government.

Which is where my appeal comes in.

I am sure that, regardless of their views on other issues, all of us are involved in politics to make peoples’ lives better.

Here is a perfect opportunity to do just that, perhaps even by the time this column reaches print, the letter will have persuaded the Scottish Government minister responsible to act.

Please.

A little boy’s quality of life and his family’s peace of mind are at stake.

Surely that is the most important thing.