Tamworth parents Lucy and Lou Haslam met with Mr Shorten in Tamworth on Thursday and lobbied him to support a new bill aimed at making the drug legal for those in chronic pain, the critically ill and the dying.

While legalising medical marijuana rests with state health departments, new laws would first have to be cleared with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to create a special category for the drug, so it can be available with a doctor’s prescription. 

The TGA, a federal body, lists cannabis as a prohibited substance.

A bill tabled in December by chairman of the cross-party Parliamentary Group for Drug Policy and Law Reform, Senator Richard Di Natale, aims to cover the licensing of cannabis growers, quality-control standards and how the drug should be processed and distributed. 

The regime would mirror the regulation of the cultivation of poppies for use in medical opiates.

The new bill is expected to be debated in federal parliament next month and would likely require the support of the ALP to pass.

Mrs Haslam said Mr Shorten had stopped short of giving unqualified support, but the meeting had been positive.

“He said he would look at it, but I’m pretty sure he will support it,” Mrs Haslam said.

“He said he would speak to the shadow attorney-general and agreed if it was his sick child, he would move heaven and earth to get them the best help.”

Mr Shorten told The Leader that governments should defer to medical evidence, not repeat clinical trials already done overseas.

“We don’t want to have more pilots than the airforce; if medical experts say it works, then let’s get on with it,” he said.

Meanwhile, the first medicinal marijuana company to list on the Australian Securities Exchange enjoyed a robust opening this week, with its shares more than doubling in value on the opening day of trading.

Investors who bought Phytotech shares for 20 cents each just before Christmas saw their investment skyrocket to 42 cents on Thursday.