A SIX-year-old boy will not be given permission to use cannabis to combat his rare medical condition, the Home Office has ruled.

The family of Alfie Dingley sought a licence to give him cannabis oil in a bid to treat a little-known form of epilepsy called PCDH19.

The condition causes Alfie to have up to 30 seizures per day. According to his mother, Hannah Deacon, he is only one of nine boys in the world to have been diagnosed.

Cannabis oil containing the psychoactive compound THC is illegal in the UK but Deacon said small doses had reduced the frequency, duration and severity of Alfie’s seizures during a visit to a specialist camp in the Netherlands last September. The family says the use of cannabis, which was prescribed by a paediatric neurologist, is more effective than the steroids currently used to ease Alfie’s symptoms by his UK doctors. It is estimated that he could experience as few as 20 seizures per year if given the oil on a regular basis, compared with around 3000 over a year that saw him visit hospital almost 50 times.

While his symptoms can gradually be controlled in UK hospitals, long-term prognosis includes institutionalisation through psychosis and early death.

However, officials say the drug “cannot be practically prescribed, administered or supplied to the public”.

The Home Office said: “We recognise that people with chronic pain and debilitating illnesses are looking to alleviate their symptoms.

“However, it is important that medicines are thoroughly tested to ensure they meet rigorous standards before being placed on the market, so that doctors and patients are assured of their efficacy, quality and safety.

“Cannabis is listed as a Schedule 1 drug as, in its raw form, it is not recognised in the UK as having any medicinal benefit and is therefore subject to strict control restrictions.

“This means it cannot be practically prescribed, administered, or supplied to the public in the UK, and can only be used for research under a Home Office licence.

“The Home Office would not issue a licence to enable the personal consumption of a Schedule 1 drug.”

The refusal comes despite the family gaining the backing of the cross-party all-party parliamentary group on drug policy reform. Co-chairman Crispin Blunt MP said a refusal would be “heartless and cruel” and called for a review of laws relating to the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

Alfie’s grandmother, Maggie Deacon, said: “Alfie has gone from a death sentence to the prospect of a more normal life with school, friends and fun, in his own familiar home.

“We want the people who have the power to give him this gift to put themselves in the position of Alfie’s family, to think creatively and with open minds and to find a way forward.

“Above all we want compassion to find a way round inflexible rules.”