And right beside her on this long, at times heartbreaking, frequently sad and often frustrating journey has been husband Lou and her family.

It’s also been a journey punctuated with moments of triumph and this week has seen one of those, as legislation to finally allow the cultivation of the drug was introduced into the parliament.

It’s expected to pass into law within weeks, given the support on all sides of both houses.

Mrs Haslam would never have asked to become the face of the medicinal cannabis lobby in Australia, her knowledge and experience of it coming only after son Daniel became terminally ill with bowel cancer.

It’s the first anniversary of Dan’s death later this month, so it seems fitting this big step towards making cannabis available for those who benefit from its therapeutic qualities should come at this time.

Really, in the scheme of changing public opinion and winning over governments, this campaign has moved at a rapid rate – obviously not fast enough for those at the coalface of this debate but relatively swift nonetheless.

It was a controversial issue, let’s face it, and many initially couldn’t see the distinction between recreational use of the drug and its use by those who found it alleviated – or even eliminated – the symptoms of many medical conditions. Cannabis was cannabis and that was that.

This debate could have dragged on for years, but it’s been people like Mrs Haslam who have argued so eloquently for the benefits of medicinal cannabis – and put some common sense back into the argument – that now the majority of Australians wonder why patients haven’t had access to it before.

She’s changed the tide of public opinion and forced our politicians, even those with reservations initially, to act. Never an easy thing to achieve.

Hopefully the momentum will keep rolling now, and before long there will be a new crop cultivated in our region, thanks in a big way to one woman who wasn’t prepared to accept no for an answer.