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From 140 seizures a year to less than one a month

From 140 seizures a year to less than one a month

Tuesday 20 February 2024

From 140 seizures a year to less than one a month

Tuesday 20 February 2024


A medicinal cannabis patient has gone from “being in the hospital” every week to living “a better quality of life”.

Shaun Murphy is seeking to raise awareness of medicinal cannabis after starting to use a prescription to treat is epilepsy.

63-year-old Shaun was diagnosed with epilepsy in 2007 after having his first seizure in his forties. He lived with epilepsy for more than 12 years before medicinal cannabis became legalised in 2019. 

“When medicinal cannabis came along it changed my life,” he said. 

“The drop in my seizures have been incredible. The thing that worried me about medicinal cannabis, was my lung condition, but under the guidance from the Doctors at Medicann, I quickly realised that medicinal cannabis worked for both my COPD and my epilepsy, and now instead of being in hospital every week, I can live a better quality of life."

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Pictured: Shaun says he manages multiple health conditions with a medicinal cannabis prescription.

Shaun, who is from Jersey, has also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, pulmonary fibrosis and COPD. He says he manages his conditions with a medicinal cannabis prescription overseen by a prescribing doctor at Medicann. 

The clinic said that “[Shaun’s] lung function has improved... allowing an overall better quality of life for Shaun. 

“I’m a big believer that people need to know about medical cannabis,” said Shaun. 

"There’s a lot of misunderstandings around medicinal cannabis, and I would encourage anyone who has a condition that they struggle with, to just speak to [a clinic], because you just never know how it might change your life for the better.  

“Medicinal cannabis does not only help my other conditions, but it also helps with my appetite and I eat better, which is so important to my overall health.” 

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Pictured: In 2023 there were more than 1,500 medicinal cannabis patients in Guernsey. 

Shaun’s prescription is managed by Medicann and the CEO of the clinic, Gary Whipp, said Shaun was one of the clinic’s first patients. 

It really is truly amazing to see how medicinal cannabis has made a difference, not only to Shaun, but to his wife (and carer) Tania.  

“Over the years that Shaun has been under the guidance of our Doctors, we have seen Shaun get discharged from the lung clinic because he could breathe again, but on the Epilepsy side of things, he has spent more time at home, as opposed to being in hospital, because the rate of his epilepsy seizures have dramatically decreased.

“Medicinal cannabis may be prescribed for a number of conditions, and with Shaun having multiple conditions, and being drug intolerant to traditional epilepsy medication, it is amazing to see that with the right guidance, medicinal cannabis has helped to create a better quality of life, where traditional drugs were not an option for Shaun to manage his Epilepsy effectively.” 

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