Ms Dawkins (Bass) – Madam Speaker, attending the United in Compassion Symposium at the the Hemp, Health and Innovation Forum in Sydney on the 14th and 15th May was a revelation. The expo and lecture series was heavily attended and was opened by the New South Wales Premier, Mike Baird. It was noted by Mr Baird that Ruth Forrest MLC and myself were in attendance. I ran into New South Wales Greens Jeremy Buckingham through the day.

The complex characteristics of the plant were outlined by Justin Sinclair, a scientist with a Masters in Herbal Medicine from the University of Sydney. It is his speech I would like to outline because I believe it gives some valuable background to the morphology, common myths and misconceptions, the entourage effect, broad spectrum use, scientific evidence and patient-centred individualised medicine, which are the cornerstones to understanding medicinal cannabis.