Dad faces jail after giving cannabis oil to dying daughter

Adam Koessler is not allowed to see his daughter after being charged with drug offences

A father in Australia is facing jail after he gave medicinal cannabis oil to his dying daughter to ease her pain.

Adam Koessler was charged earlier this month after giving the oil to two-year-old Rumer Rose, in a bid to treat her advanced neuroblastoma – a nerve tissue based cancer which has left the toddler with just a 50 percent chance of survival .

Speaking to the Newcastle Herald, Mr Koessler, from Cairns, explained how his daughter showed considerable signs of improvement after the oil was mixed with coconut.

He said: ‘Her cancer-ridden little body was alive again – Rumer had almost instant quality of life.

‘She would say “Daddy, tummy’s not sore” and she would be able to eat like a champion and began to gain weight.

‘Her energy was up and she wanted to go outside with me instead of lay on her back with her legs curled up.

‘Her skin colour came back, her eyes were sparkling again and we just looked at each other in complete amazement’.

However, Mr Koessler was arrested on January 2 after travelling to Brisbane, where he met with his daughter’s oncologist.

He has been charged with supplying dangerous drugs to a person under 16 and possession of dangerous drugs, and will appear in court on Tuesday.

His bail conditions now mean that he is not allowed to contact his daughter, who is currently in intensive care, following seizures after she stopped taking the cannabis oil.

In the wake of Mr Koessler’s arrest, a petition has been launched on change.org, calling for justice minister Jarrod Bleijie and Queensland premier Campbell Newman to intervene in the case.

The petition reads: ‘It is inhumane and unjust to keep a parent, who acted out of love for his child, wanting to prolong her life, away from her during such severe illness.

‘Aside from the excruciating cruelty of eliminating his parental rights set down on his bail conditions, this decision is contrary to what is already known and well documented with respect to the benefits of medical grade cannabis oil.

‘Adam Koessler deserves to have his parental rights to see his child reinstated, the charges against him dismissed by a court, and the right to decide the treatment options for his own child.’

More than 30,000 people have signed the petition, while the same amount have supported a Facebook campaign that aims to draw attention to the Koesslers’ desperate situation.

A Facebook message from the group, posted yesterday, reads:  ‘To our little angel Rumer Rose. We know your Daddy can’t be with you now but the world is on his side. Everyone is sending you healing energy and willing for your Daddy to see you soon.  Hold on little girl. You must be a very special gift to this world.

‘Little do you know, that because of you, tens of thousands of people’s lives might be changed for the better.’

http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/18/dad-faces-jail-after-giving-cannabis-oil-to-dying-daughter-5026686/ 18/01/2015