- Emmerdale actress Leah Bracknell was diagnosed with terminal stage four lung cancer in 2016
- Bracknell believes cannabis is to thank for slowing down the progress of her illness
- The actress has pleaded with the Tory Government to legalise cannabis for medical purposes
- With more and more celebrities revealing they are saving their own lives with cannabis, how much longer can the British Government deny cannabis to its people?
Emmerdale star, Leah Bracknell, 54, has revealed she is breaking the law to stay alive, by using illegal cannabis oil to slow down the progress of her terminal lung cancer.
The actress has been making the oil at home, despite the life-saving drug remaining illegal in the UK.
Bracknell claims she would not be alive today if it wasn’t for medical cannabis oil, declaring it “as easy as baking a cake” to make.
The actress, who played Zoe Tate in Emmerdale from 1989 until 2006, credited cannabis oil with reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy, whilst also slowing down her symptoms, giving her an overall better quality of life.
Bracknell revealed her use of cannabis in a blog post titled “Cannabis and Me: Breaking the Law.”
In the blog, Bracknell slammed Theresa May’s callousness to those who need cannabis to live, or at least have a good quality of life in their last years:
“I envy Theresa May… I envy the fact that the naughtiest thing she has ever done is run through a field of wheat.
“How might she have fared had she had to break the law to buy cannabis to give herself or a loved one the chance of life?”
You may recall that Theresa May’s husband, Phillip, owns shares in GW Pharmaceuticals, which is currently the only company allowed to legally sell medical cannabis in the UK.
Bracknell, a mother-of-two, was diagnosed with terminal stage four lung cancer in 2016, after suddenly finding herself breathless while climbing stairs, her abdomen swelling up.
After seeing four GPs in 10 days, she was finally taken to A&E. Following being diagnosed with inoperable and incurable cancer, she started targeted biological therapy on the NHS to try and prolong her life.
However, this traditional treatment stopped being effective in August 2017, forcing the actress and yoga teacher to rely on alternative treatments, such as infrared sauna sessions and even plant-based healing oils.
Bracknell admitted in her blog that she has been used ‘High THC cannabis oil’ every day since leaving the hospital two years ago.
Discussing why she decided to risk her freedom by using medical cannabis, Bracknell wrote:
“When you think you have nothing to lose and everything to gain, one’s relationship with risk becomes considerably less cautious.
“Making the oil at home from the plant is as easy as baking a cake. I have been using it as a vital component of healing. Stopping in recent months for the trial.
“I do not believe I would be here without it.’
Bracknell represents everything that is great about Britain: an unwillingness to die, suffering in silence, while our Government refuses to offer its citizens the basic right of choice in healthcare.
The brave mother faces up to five years in prison for admitting her use. Five years in prison just for refusing to die.
The Home Office recently set out an outline of their plan for the process of legalising medical cannabis, but the guiding legalisation through bureaucracy and red-tape is leaving thousands of desperate patients in medical limbo.
By the time the Government finally allows its citizens to use a safer alternative to opioid-based medication and chemotherapy, many of these patients could already have died, or suffered untold anguish.
Bracknell finished by pleading with the Conservative Government to change the law to help those in need:
“I beg the Government to be brave in decisions around legislating medicinal cannabis. To legalise it in ALL its forms for medical use.”
