LIKE most people, Darrelea Curran has never tried drugs in her life. Not surprisingly, it's why she exercises a degree of caution towards the medical marijuana debate.
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Mrs Curran is in remission from bowel cancer after being diagnosed in April last year. On New Year's Eve, she was given the all clear - for now.
"The doctors give you the worst possible diagnosis."
- Darrelea Curran
"The doctors give you the worst possible diagnosis," she said.
"They always tell you the utmost worst it could be. For me, it's been that it could come back, but I keep saying in my head 'that's not me'."
Mrs Curran is future-focused and has vowed not to dwell on the grievances of her treatment.
In between Skyping her two children from Wagga, the Griffith hairdresser would spend the night battling the bleeding and discomfort from her radiation therapy.
"That was hard, really hard, because I'm a mother and I had never been away from my kids," she said.
"It was very trying and it tested my resilience."
Ever since her treatment, Mrs Curran has sought out natural alternatives and said "the less toxins in your body the better".
"I have changed the whole salon to be that way for a reason."
She said it was satisfying to restock her Yambil Street salon with organic products after "forever Googling" their health outcomes.
Gorgeous By Nature now bills itself as the city's first "eco-friendly" hairdresser.
With lasting pain from her treatment, reduced body mass and spreading carpal tunnel syndrome, Mrs Curran eagerly awaits the results of a medicinal cannabis trial in NSW.
The trial has the potential to treat children with severe epilepsy, terminally ill adults and those undergoing chemotherapy.
According to one health food store owner, Griffith people are demanding medicinal cannabis treatment now.
Karen Cauduro runs Seeds of Wellness and said customers have travelled to the northern NSW town of Nimbin to source cannabis oil.
"Obviously you can get it from there," she said.
"A lot of cancer patients are going to the doctor and realising there is a lot to lose.
"They will clutch at anything."
The political willpower to tackle the socially and medically complex cannabis debate has gained traction with the announcement of the trial.
NSW Opposition Leader Luke Foley has even gone as far as suggesting the state should move to immediate changes in the field.
On a federal level, movement has been slower, but a group of MPs have banded together to present a private members bill on the issue.
Member for Riverina Michael McCormack told The Area News the provision of the drug to patients with terminal illnesses had his conditional support.
"If they say medical marijuana should be given to people with terminal illnesses I won't stand in the way," he said.
"That said, I don't think some of the proposals given are realistic. You only need to look at the amount of people pulled over by police with drugs in their system.
"That is a worry for me."