With the medical marijuana amendment to the drug act passing the Federal Parliament last month, there could be many claims of miracle cures among the real-world applications.

Lucy Haslam is one person who led the charge for a change in the law along with her son Dan who died from cancer on February 24 last year. The Narcotic Drugs Amendment Bill 2016 passed on the anniversary of his death.

"We felt passionate about it and had made a promise to Dan, we would try an achieve it," the former nurse told Yahoo7. It was a "bittersweet" victory, not the end of the battle.

The legislative fight helped Ms Haslam deal with the grief of Dan's death, but so did her will to help other patients and their families suffering whose could be alleviated with medical marijuana.





View photos Lucy and Lou Haslam have fought hard to change Australia's medical marijuana laws. Source: Sunday Night More

Her change.org petition for the Turnbull government to enact the "Dan's Law" already earned more than 350,000 signatures – the greatest number of any on the site in Australia.

Ms Haslam said, "It will always be Dan's Law," but now her fight turns to ensuring the legislation is broad enough to provide easy and affordable access for all.

Health Minister Sussan Ley in a statement described the bill's passing as "an historic day" that would the "missing piece in a patient's treatment journey and will now see seamless access to locally-produced medicinal cannabis products from farm to pharmacy".

But Ms Haslam warned the minister "She probably hasn't seen the last of me yet," as her focus turns to educating doctors and nurses and "allowing a patient to access in a safe and affordable way" – a measure she calls the "Dan test".

"There's no point in it being legal if it's not affordable," Ms Haslam said.

On the black market a gram of marijuana costs $20 on average. Typically there is no information about where or how the plant was gown or what is in it, which is not good news for sick people.

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According to Raphael Mechoulam, an Israeli organic chemist who has spent more than 50 years studying the plant, its healing potential is exponential.

"We have just scratched the surface," he told National Geographic last June in a slight against laws that have locked cannabis away from study.

"And I greatly regret that I don't have another lifetime to devote to this field, for we may well discover that cannabinoids are involved in some way in all human diseases."

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