SBS Documentaries

A Life of Its Own: The Truth About Medical Marijuana (2017x6)

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In Australia, the move to legalise medical cannabis has gained substantial momentum, thanks largely to the tenacity of a Tamworth couple whose dying son benefited from medicinal cannabis. Battling an out-dated legal framework, scepticism, and prejudice, Lucie and Tony Haslam believe that the benefit gained for their son needed to be shared with the broader community. In an initiative which has brought change to the political and medical landscape, they were the driving force in co-ordinating an international symposium on medicinal cannabis. While doctors have little knowledge of the plant, it has historical significance as a prescription treatment for various ailments during the last century and as early as 1500 BC. Medicinal cannabis is yet to be legalised in Australia, but governments are shifting their perspective, transforming the question from the possibility of legalisation to a matter of when the change will take place.