A man was left with no medicine for his four day visit to Ireland when his cannabis prescription was confiscated at Dublin Airport.
Jason Pickering and his mother flew from Bristol to Ireland on December 23rd ahead of their Christmas holiday.
Mr Pickering’s mother, Dolores, who is originally from Cork, describes herself as a “proper, republican Irish girl”.
On Lunchtime Live, Ms Pickering said she had been shocked by their experience at customs on their most recent visit.
“Jason produced his prescription like he has done for the last eight times [on trips] to Ireland since my husband died,” she said.
“We buried my husband in July 2004 in Millstreet in County Cork and we looked after him with Alzheimer’s for 12-years.
“Jason got cancer in the meantime and he came under the London clinic for his medication - which was marijuana.”
Ms Pickering said they “always” declare his prescription when they visit Ireland and have “never had a problem” until this trip.
“Unfortunately, we were taken to a room, we were interviewed, we missed our flight to Kerry where we were going to Millstreet to visit my husband’s grave,” she said.
Ms Pickering said her son was prescribed the medication by a clinic in London and it is necessary for his health and wellbeing.
“He’s been taking it now since 2018 after he came out of hospital with cancer,” she said.
“The operation went wrong which has left him incontinent.”
Law in Ireland
In 2019, then-Minister for Health Simon Harris signed into law the Medical Cannabis Access Programme.
Pharmacists are now able to supply patients with “acceptable cannabis-based products for medical use that are of a standardised quality”.
Despite this, Ms Pickering said customs staff treated her son unsympathetically.
“We were, I would call it ‘interrogated’, they would call it ‘questioning’,” she said.
“They took Jason’s medication away from him, so he had nothing for four days in Killarney where we were staying.
“Unfortunately, they told me they were going to burn it; it cost £360 every month to pay for it legally through the London clinic. It is a medical product.”
Further information on the 'Medical Cannabis Access Programme': https://t.co/b7s5RLAsFb@SimonHarrisTD @TheHPRA @HSELive #MedicinalCannabis #cannabis pic.twitter.com/oYnqIe5QtY
— Department of Health (@roinnslainte) June 26, 2019
Ms Pickering said the pair insisted the product was legal in Ireland but to no avail.
“She would not listen to me,” she said.
“Quite honestly, it was like sitting with three demons.
“I’ve never had the experience before; we went to Lourdes last year, we went through Bordeaux, we declared Jason’s stuff.
“I’ve never had a problem.”
Since the Medical Cannabis Access Programme was set up, only 50 people have had access to it.
Main image: Medical cannabis. Picture by: Alamy.com
