‘Illegally Alive’ Preview Now Available on CBP Socials

A teaser for our documentary about medicinal cannabis in Scotland.

We are pleased to share a preview of Illegally Alive, part of an investigative series we are developing in which each episode will follow presenter Sean McDonald as he explores a different topic bound to get audiences talking. 

On the advent of Scotland’s first medicinal cannabis crop being harvested in Dumfries & Galloway, Illegally Alive follows Sean McDonald as he investigates the current medicinal cannabis landscape in our country. In the teaser Sean meets James Austin, a thirty year-old husband and father who, in 2016, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme - the most aggressive form of brain cancer. With optimal treatment, his prognosis was less than one year. After surgery, James decided to incorporate cannabis oil into his treatment and the next five years of scans all showed no growth. 

But in September this year, just two weeks after his wedding, James found out that his tumour had grown beyond anything that the doctors could help with and he was put on palliative care. Shortly after this gut-wrenching news, James and his wife Katherine asked us if we could go ahead with our plans for filming because James wanted to get his story out in the hopes of helping other people. As he speaks of the film to Sean; “Maybe somebody further down the line who’s got a wee Amelia [his daughter] who might get the help that they need, and if it’s because of me then that would be amazing.”  

We were fortunate enough to hear James Austin’s story three weeks before his death and hope this project inspires conversations about access to legal, affordable cannabis products in Scotland for those who need it.