One of the most conservative seats in NSW will this weekend lead a national conversation on medicinal cannabis

It was March this year; a most unlikely family started a most unlikely campaign.

In the court yard of a coffee shop in Tamworth, I sat opposite local Mum, Lucy Haslam and she told me about her son 24 year old Dan who was dying of cancer.

She explained how he had recently found that cannabis offered him some relief to the nausea, vomiting, and poor appetite caused by his treatment.

Since then Lucy, Dan and their family have been on an incredible journey, calling on the NSW Government to adopt the findings of its own upper house parliamentary inquiry and decriminalise cannabis for the critically and terminally ill.

The family's efforts have since been rewarded with the state government moving to offer its support and promise to run a trial.

The Premier, Mike Baird with also officially open this weekend's medicinal cannabis symposium organised by Mrs Haslam.

This week on the Morning Show we've been finding out more about the symposium.

We've spoken to Lucy Haslam about what she hopes the symposium will achieve.

Seven network senior reporter and presenter Helen Kapalos will MC the event. Helen first covered the story for the 'Sunday Night' program earlier this year and says she is now determined to see a result.

Dr David Allsop is a Research Fellow in Psychopharmacology and Addiction Medicine at the School of Psychology at University of Sydney. He'll be providing an Australian perspective on cannabinoid research

Former Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Palmer has also been invited to speak at the forum.

Mr Palmer says the current approach to drug management in Australia is not working.

"The evidence is almost overwhelming, the current prohibition approach to illicit drugs and cannabis has been an abject failure, and to keep focusing on people for using and possessing as if they are criminals, and to deal with that in a criminal way is to avoid the reality of the problem."

"Supply can be controlled, particularly for medicinal cannabis, the impetus would be for it to be prescribed by medically authorised doctors or pharmacists, and that it would be delivered on a needs basis. To me it is almost a no brainer to deny it."

"The momentum has started and it is irresistible."

Green's Senator, Richard Di Natalie will preview a piece of federal legislation he plans to introduce in parliament next week on legalising medicinal cannabis at the symposium.

He says the system could be modelled on the federally regulated poppy industry.

"A national uniform framework and then it is up to each state to decide whether they opt in to that. We think that it is just common sense that states would prefer to have this legislated nationally, that there is a consistent set of laws, it means that individuals who are using the drug through a prescription from a doctor are exempt from any criminal prosecutions. It means that rather than have state government's introducing policies around trials and so on that we can go ahead and do this properly in the same ways as we do other medicines."

He says he's seeking a chance to brief the Prime Minister,

"It would take months to establish the regulator and so on, but in the end of you do it properly, it will be much quicker than going down the route of clinical trials, I think the evidence is very clear, we know medicinal cannabis is effective for some specific medical conditions like nausea from chemotherapy and so on, and for those conditions, we just need to move quickly."

In December the Government is expected to reveal compassionate changes to police discretionary powers around allowing people with terminal illness or cancer use of medicinal cannabis.

It is also expected to outline the tender process for at least three clinical trials of medicinal cannabis for adults and children.

The Premier has asked Parliamentary Secretary and Liberal MLC, Catherine Cusack to support the working group developing the government's response. She says more details will be revealed in December.

The Oxley Local Area Commander, Superintendent Clint Pheeney was a part of the symposium's law and order panel, he says he has suffered no repercussions since speaking out in support of the Haslam's earlier this year.