It comes amid claims by the NSW Greens new laws would not be ratified until 2020 if trials were to proceed.

New state Labor leader Luke Foley on Sunday upped the ante in the debate, calling on Premier Mike Baird to scrap the trials and enact new laws immediately.

The government maintains clinical trials are critical to help build a medical case for legalisation, but Mr Foley claimed they would simply trawl over old ground.

“We don’t need to bother with trials,” Mr Foley said.

“There’s been plenty of trials overseas. I think of Israel in particular.

“We know that, for a certain number of people with terminal illness, cannabinoid treatments are the only effective measure of pain relief.”

Tamworth mum and high-profile medical marijuana advocate Lucy Haslam said the government should legalise first and run trials later.

“I do agree with Luke Foley; we need trials but we should get straight into legalisation first,” Mrs Haslam said.

She said particularly around the issue of epilepsy, trials were an important way to confirm the mountain of anecdotal evidence around the benefits of cannabis oil.

“But we know it works so we should give these families some peace of mind now,” she said.

NSW Greens MP John Kaye said it was an act of cruelty for the government to delay legalising medicine for the critically ill.

“The time for talk is over,” Mr Kaye said.

“Patients who would benefit from the use of medicinal cannabis are missing out because of inaction and the delaying tactics of both the Coalition and Labor.

“Crude cannabis, including leaf, oil and resin, has been around for thousands of years. They are not novel substances and do not need clinical trials.”

Mr Baird and the Australian Medical Association have previously stressed the importance of clinical trials in helping guide medical cannabis reform.