Robert Celt
New Member
Lucy Haslam once perceived cannabis as a dangerous drug responsible for psychosis in long term users.
That was until it gave her son Dan, terminally ill with stage four bowel cancer, a better quality of life.
Now a vocal advocate for the decriminisation of medicinal cannabis, Mrs Haslam urged skeptics to keep an open mind as a guest speaker at Australia’s first Hemp Health & Innovation Expo at Rosehill Gardens this weekend.
The two-day event will be opened by Premier Mike Baird and feature experts in the field of Medicinal Cannabis from around the globe.
Australian Medical Association representatives will also attend.
The expo will coincide with the second medicinal cannabis symposium following the inaugural event in the Haslam’s hometown of Tamworth in 2014.
Dan’s story changed the Premier’s views on medicinal cannabis and become one of the first people in NSW to receive a special cannabis licence in February last year.
He died three weeks later.
“My son was desperate to find something and tried everything available when a friend of ours who had bowel cancer told him that cannabis worked for him,” Mrs Haslam told the Sun.
“My son said no and that’s when the friend approached us. We encouraged Dan to use it and it gave him incredible relief. It stopped the nausea and vomiting. It transformed his life.”
More than 90 per cent of Australians believe medicinal cannabis should belegalised, according to a poll by Roy Morgan Research.
In February, the federal government passed a historic bill for the production, purchase and use of medicinal cannabis in Australia.
The conditions are currently being determined by a regulator, due to be finalised by the end of the year.
Mrs Haslam and husband Lou founded United In Compassion to continue advocating in Dan’s honour.
‘It’s what our son would be thinking of doing if he was still alive,” she said.
“We feel the time is overdue for a compassionate access scheme to be developed in NSW. Medical use of cannabis is currently at the discretion of police. The current laws ignore patients who are sick now. We have undoubtedly changed the law, which we didn’t originally set out to do. It has affected so many lives.’’
Mrs Haslam recently joined Mr Baird on his recent tour of Israel to find out more about the country’s compassionate access scheme.
“It inspired me as the scheme like the one in Israel will be worthwhile here,” she said.
“It’s regulated and the cannabis is produced by licensed producers. But users have the support they need and don’t feel they’re breaking the law. The support the Premier has given us has been great but there’s always an opportunity to do things better.”
She sees this weekend as an invaluable opportunity to educate the wider community.
“The stronger the attendance, the stronger message we send to the rest of society,” Mrs Haslam said.
“We owe it to ourselves to be better informed.”
The forum is on 9am-5.30pm this Saturday and 9.30am-3pm this Sunday.
Tickets for the two-day event are $15 adults, $12.50 concession.
Details: hhiexpo.com.au.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Australia’s 1st Hemp Health & Innovation Expo On MMJ Comes To Rosehill Gardens
Author: Kylie Stevens
Photo Credit: Paul Matthews
Website: The Sun
That was until it gave her son Dan, terminally ill with stage four bowel cancer, a better quality of life.
Now a vocal advocate for the decriminisation of medicinal cannabis, Mrs Haslam urged skeptics to keep an open mind as a guest speaker at Australia’s first Hemp Health & Innovation Expo at Rosehill Gardens this weekend.
The two-day event will be opened by Premier Mike Baird and feature experts in the field of Medicinal Cannabis from around the globe.
Australian Medical Association representatives will also attend.
The expo will coincide with the second medicinal cannabis symposium following the inaugural event in the Haslam’s hometown of Tamworth in 2014.
Dan’s story changed the Premier’s views on medicinal cannabis and become one of the first people in NSW to receive a special cannabis licence in February last year.
He died three weeks later.
“My son was desperate to find something and tried everything available when a friend of ours who had bowel cancer told him that cannabis worked for him,” Mrs Haslam told the Sun.
“My son said no and that’s when the friend approached us. We encouraged Dan to use it and it gave him incredible relief. It stopped the nausea and vomiting. It transformed his life.”
More than 90 per cent of Australians believe medicinal cannabis should belegalised, according to a poll by Roy Morgan Research.
In February, the federal government passed a historic bill for the production, purchase and use of medicinal cannabis in Australia.
The conditions are currently being determined by a regulator, due to be finalised by the end of the year.
Mrs Haslam and husband Lou founded United In Compassion to continue advocating in Dan’s honour.
‘It’s what our son would be thinking of doing if he was still alive,” she said.
“We feel the time is overdue for a compassionate access scheme to be developed in NSW. Medical use of cannabis is currently at the discretion of police. The current laws ignore patients who are sick now. We have undoubtedly changed the law, which we didn’t originally set out to do. It has affected so many lives.’’
Mrs Haslam recently joined Mr Baird on his recent tour of Israel to find out more about the country’s compassionate access scheme.
“It inspired me as the scheme like the one in Israel will be worthwhile here,” she said.
“It’s regulated and the cannabis is produced by licensed producers. But users have the support they need and don’t feel they’re breaking the law. The support the Premier has given us has been great but there’s always an opportunity to do things better.”
She sees this weekend as an invaluable opportunity to educate the wider community.
“The stronger the attendance, the stronger message we send to the rest of society,” Mrs Haslam said.
“We owe it to ourselves to be better informed.”
The forum is on 9am-5.30pm this Saturday and 9.30am-3pm this Sunday.
Tickets for the two-day event are $15 adults, $12.50 concession.
Details: hhiexpo.com.au.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Australia’s 1st Hemp Health & Innovation Expo On MMJ Comes To Rosehill Gardens
Author: Kylie Stevens
Photo Credit: Paul Matthews
Website: The Sun
