Brain tumour patient says he’s in vulnerable state after raid on cannabis oil producer Jenny Hallam
A SOUTH Australian man with an incurable brain tumour says the cannabis oil he was receiving from raided supplier Jenny Hallam was the only medicine that gave him any quality of life.
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A SOUTH Australian man with an incurable brain tumour says the cannabis oil he was receiving from raided supplier Jenny Hallam was the only medicine that gave him any quality of life.
Tom, 31, who has chosen not to use his last name, was diagnosed with a large glioma tumour on his brain when he was just 25 years old.
He underwent three unsuccessful operations and has been told that the tumour has moved too far back on his brain to attempt further operations.
Tom said that while he has already lived longer than manydiagnosed with a glioma tumour, doctors believe he probably has between one and three years to live.
He said he now has less than a week’s supply of the oil left and no way of getting any more.
The Yorke Peninsula resident started using the oil about two months ago after numerous recommendations from specialists and experts, and says it totally revolutionised his treatment.
He has been able to completely phase out his sleeping medication and reduce his pain medication by 75 per cent.
“The simplest way to describe it is that I was living with a level of background discomfort at all times,” the former mechanical engineer said.
“The oil made that discomfort disappear almost instantly. It made me feel like I hadn’t felt in years.”
Tom said that he contracted meningitis during one of his operations, which led to severe insomnia that would sometimes see him go for days at a time without sleeping.
“I tried at least six different sleep medications, but they all either worked in the short-term or had side effects that outweighed any benefits,” he said. Tom said the oil had restored his ability to sleep.
“As for my pain medication, I’ve reduced that down to 25 per cent of what I was previously taking and I’m on my way to eliminating them entirely. The only reason I haven’t stopped taking them is because you have to taper off.”
Tom was introduced to Ms Hallam after an earlier attempt to buy cannabis oil online from Western Australia, which resulted in him losing $500.
He said Ms Hallam — who supplied the oil to cancer patients and other sick adults and children around Australia — had never asked for a single cent in exchange for the product.
Ms Hallam was reported on Wednesday after police raided her Hillier property and seized equipment used to make the oil.
“I was just shocked and angry that she was targeted,” he said.
“You would like to think that our resources would be aimed at tackling our biggest threats, and Jenny is the polar opposite of a threat.
“She’s just trying to help people.”
Ms Hallam’s lawyer Heather Stokes said her client’s own health had “gone downhill rapidly” since the police raid.
Ms Stokes said Ms Hallam herself used the cannabis oil to treat the nerve condition fibromyalgia, and to help ease chronic pain she suffered after a vehicle accident.
“She had been on morphine-based medication for 15 years and had dropped to just 35kg,” Ms Stokes said. “She was in a physical state where her health was severely compromised. She discovered cannabis oil and it worked a treat.
“After that she started, bit by bit, making the oil for other people, to the point where she now has a couple of hundred people who she supplies.”
Ms Stokes said Ms Hallam’s clients, all of whom she supplied free of charge, included children with epilepsy, cancer patients and people suffering from chronic pain.
She said all of the cannabis that Ms Hallam had been using to create the oil had been donated to her.
“She doesn’t pay for it,” Ms Stokes said. “She couldn’t pay for it even if she wanted to — she’s on an invalid pension.
“The oil she makes is high in the chemical CBD, and very low in THC (the main chemical which creates a high in recreational users). There is very little THC in it; nobody’s getting high from this.”
Ms Stokes said that Ms Hallam, as well as being in pain due to the fact that she no longer had access to her own medicine, was also distressed by the thought of letting sick people down.
“Jenny is very upset that she’s been made a target,” Ms Stokes said.
“She doesn’t blame the police, and says that they were very polite and even seemed embarrassed.
“But they were following up on a complaint — and we don’t know where that came from.
“But it’s a complaint that’s created a situation where people’s health, and possibly even their lives, have been compromised.”
According to SA Health, specialists can apply to the Therapeutic Goods Administration for approval to prescribe cannabis products if “the patient has tried conventional treatments and these have failed”.
Should a patient meet all criteria, the TGA said approval time is generally under five days.