The Leaf March - April 2017 | Page 16

Many thousands of Australian children and their families are currently affected and this condition costs the country hundreds of millions of dollars annually , with frequent ambulance call-outs , hospital admissions , often with prolonged periods in intensive care and a huge bill for pharmaceutical drugs and tests , most of which show little benefit .
Since 2013 , Dr Katelaris has supplied medicinal cannabis to dozens of children with serious seizure disorders . With this safe and effective herbal medicine , he has seen a dramatic reduction in the frequency and intensity of seizures suffered and in addition , most of the children have shown a noticeable improvement in social , intellectual and motor functioning . His current research interest is in developing better seizure medication . He is specifically refining the use of cannabis plant varieties that are cannabidiol-dominant . Cannabidiol ( CBD ) is non-neuroactive cannabinoid . Dr Katelaris concluded a trial pilot study with twelve children suffering from intractable forms of the disease taking part in the threemonth study . All children had exhausted all other methods of conventional medical treatment . The children were administered an infusion of cannabis in refined coconut oil . By the time they had finished the trial , the condition of all of the children had improved , with at least 70 % experiencing fewer epileptic episodes . Some showed noticeable advances in social interaction and gross motor skills during the trial and the results were very promising , Dr Katelaris said . “ This is the first good news for parents with children afflicted with intractable epilepsy , who until now must suffer not only their affliction , but the severe toxic effects of the ineffective polypharmacy ”. Police made 66,684 cannabis arrests in Australia in 2013-14 , the highest on record . 87.2 % of those were consumers , rather than providers . Australian Crime Commission Illicit drug data report 2013-14
In 2016 he was working at a ‘ wellness clinic ’ in Newcastle run by the Church of Ubuntu , where he supplied cannabis oil to children with epilepsy and adults with cancer , still advocating for the legalisation of medicinal cannabis . However , Dr Katelaris admitted he was “ flying blind ” when he prepared “ huge doses ” of cannabis mixed with coconut oil and injected it directly into the ovarian cancers of two 56-year-old women at the Newcastle clinic in September , 2015 . Nearly 18 months later , with further sanctions from the state ’ s health watchdog and a referral to police , Dr Katelaris insists health authorities are “ retarding progress ”, and that his championing of cannabis oil as a “ safe and effective herbal medication ” for broad use is in the public interest .
One of only a handful of compassionate suppliers openly flouting the law by providing access to medicinal cannabis oil for families in the Australian Capital Territory ( ACT ), NSW , Victoria and further afield , Dr Katelaris has become the most public face of doctors unwilling to wait for the law to catch up with the needs of their patients . While quick to stress he is not operating as a GP , he was conducting clinics on the NSW central coast and Skype consultations with patients in other states , advising them not just on cannabis but also diet and lifestyle . He has spent countless hours teaching patients how to use cannabis to treat conditions ranging from intractable epilepsy to chronic pain and relief from the debilitating sideeffects of chemotherapy .