NSW Premier Mike Baird will today meet with Tamworth’s Haslam family as the fight to decriminalise marijuana for the dying reaches a critical juncture.
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Just weeks out from the expected tabling of a bill on the issue by Tamworth MP Kevin Anderson, Mr Baird will sit down this morning with
the Haslams to discuss their unlikely journey from average, middle-class family to champions of medical marijuana.
Lucy and Lou Haslam have been thrust into the national spotlight after publicly sharing the role marijuana has played in helping their son Dan, who has terminal bowel cancer.
“We just want the Premier to know how important this issue is,” Mrs Haslam said.
“We want him to see the human face of it and realise how critical it is something is passed soon.
“By ignoring the issue, I think our politicians aren’t looking too good. Something really needs to be done.”
She said while it was heartening to see residents in conservative areas like Tamworth change their views on the issue, political leaders had been too slow to react.
“We’ve become the people others in a similar position come to for information and to vent frustrations,” Mrs Haslam said.
“This issue is affecting thousands of Australians.”
Meanwhile, Mr Anderson is set to meet with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Australia’s regulatory agency for pharmaceuticals. The TGA is seen as
a crucial hurdle in authorising cannabis to be used as a medicine.
“I want to get their views about how we can get cannabis dispensed by clinicians and on the shelves of pharmacies,” Mr Anderson said. He said he was still hopeful of tabling his private member’s bill on the issue by mid-August.
The premier said the government would give “careful consideration” to the bill.
“Compassion is my key focus in this debate, but the solution must also address supply concerns and regulation,” Mr Baird said.
“We will give careful consideration to Mr Anderson’s bill, and I have nothing but sympathy for the Haslam family as they struggle with their son’s illness.”