A paediatric neurologist has warned that parents are unwittingly putting their children with epilepsy at risk by turning to ‘backyard’ medical cannabis products.

Speaking at the recent Epilepsy Society of Australia annual scientific meeting, Dr John Lawson, from Sydney Children’s Hospital, said while cannabidiol (CBD) has a place in epilepsy treatment, he is worried cannabis products are increasingly being perceived as risk-free.

“If you just took all the children with epilepsy in Australia getting some form of cannabis, most would be getting THC because most are getting it outside the approved system,” Dr Lawson told Neurology Update.

“Huge numbers of the things called ‘CBD only’ that parents are giving have large amounts of THC — they’re labelled incorrectly, and the quality control is extremely poor.