Patrick Stewart backs call for six-year-old epileptic boy to receive medical cannabis

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Actor Sir Patrick Stewart joined a six-year-old boy with epilepsy on the steps of 10 Downing Street, to hand over a petition containing nearly 400,000 signatures which calls on the Government to approve a license for medical cannabis. open image in gallery Six-year-old Alfie, his parents Drew Dingley and Hannah Deacon and actor Sir Patrick Stewart walk up Whitehall His parents Drew Dingley and Hannah Deacon have attempted to have the medication recognised in the UK, but their attempts were blocked by the Home Office. “What we’re asking for is a medical grade product, made under laboratory conditions, which is bottled and prescribed in the way any painkiller is.” Writing on the petition, Ms Deacon said providing a license for Alfie was a “no-brainer”. She said: “This is about weekly trips to A&E, watching my son have seizures, watching him turn purple, and praying that he lives to see another day.” Alfie’s other supporters include Sir Richard Branson and Joanna Lumley, along MPs in favour of drug legislation.