“We are all decent folk but have no choice”: Mum of two spending thousands importing cannabis in bid to keep dad alive

A DEVOTED daughter has revealed she is spending up to £1,600 a month to keep her father alive.

Claire Hood, 39, from Lesmahagow, buys her father, John Hannigan, medicinal cannabis from Canada to treat his aggressive brain tumour.

Transport manager Claire says he has made remarkable progress, beating a life expectancy of six months.

She is speaking out to add her voice to the campaign for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.

It is under review by the Home Office after the mother of a severely epileptic boy was stopped at Heathrow coming from Canada with his supply.

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John was diagnosed in August 2016 with a highly aggressive glioblastoma tumour.

Mum-of-two Claire said the family began investigating the use of medicinal cannabis after chemotherapy triggered paralysis down her dad’s left side.

Once he began taking the drug, he recovered quickly from those side-effects.

Claire said: “I would do anything to give my dad a chance to live. That includes importing expensive cannabis from Canada. The cannabis costs £1,600 a month. It is considerable and family and friends help when they can.

“We have watched my dad’s life being extended by cannabis and witnessed him recover quickly from the side-effects of chemo.

“We struggled to get a good supply from last August and dad deteriorated.

“Since sourcing it in January he has improved greatly and is now walking and talking.

“The difference is night and day.

“Medical research is in its early days but those fighting aggressive cancers do not have the time to wait for the years for big trials to report.

“My dad worked hard all his years as a lorry driver. He and mum, Catherine, strived to bring up their family.

“We just want dad to live and medicinal cannabis is his only chance.

“But it’s distressing that we should fear prosecution for breaking the law.

“We are all decent folk driven to desperate measures to save our loved ones.”

Claire and her construction worker husband, Craig, are supported financially by her family wherever possible.

The couple married in April 2017.

“We wanted dad to see us tie the knot because we didn’t know what the future held,” said Claire.

Last week we revealed how Beatson Cancer Unit patient Caroline Burns’ brain tumour had shrunk drastically after she took cannabis for three years.

Caroline, from Cumbernauld, was given three months to live three years ago but her tumour has shrunk 26%.

Her oncologist, Professor Anthony Chalmers, revealed a study of cannabis treatment for glioblastoma patients showed 83% of patients were alive a year later.

“It was a small study of 21 patients but the results are encouraging enough to carry out further trials with larger patient numbers,” said Professor Chalmers, head of clinical oncology at Glasgow University.

“Two-thirds experienced side-effects of dizziness and fatigue, though.”

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Professor Chalmers is keen to draw a distinction between street cannabis and the medical one imported from reputable laboratories.

“Street cannabis contains dangerous chemicals, in the way tobacco does,” he said.

The cannabis drug used contained THC and CBD.

“We got the reputable source of THC from Canada,” said Claire.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid ordered an inquiry into medicinal cannabis after a mother had the drug seized at Heathrow Airport in London.

Caroline Caldwell had brought it from Canada to treat her son Billy, who suffers from epilepsy.

It was returned after the home secretary intervened.

Cannabis oil itself is illegal to possess, supply or use.