You'd be forgiven for thinking 75-year-old Barry Lambert doesn't look like what you might expect a passionate advocate for medicinal cannabis research would look like, but the AM (Member of the Order of Australia) appended to his name in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours List proves otherwise.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
When Barry received the news he was being awarded an AM he was initially reluctant to accept it.
However, after much deliberation, he decided he would accept the honour, in hopes that it would give not only his 11 grandchildren, but young people, especially in the NSW Manning Valley region where he grew up, aspiration to do great things.
Barry's granddaughter Katelyn was the catalyst for Barry's introduction to the world of medicinal cannabis.
IN OTHER NEWS:
Katelyn was born in 2011 with Dravet Syndrome, a rare and catastrophic form of epilepsy that doesn't respond well to medication. From the age of six months Katelyn suffered thousands of seizures a day. She was given a one in six change of surviving the condition. Overseas, great results were being seen in children with Dravet Syndrome being given an over-the-counter hemp extract, legal in other countries overseas, but at the time illegal in Australia.
The imported nutraceutical had immediate positive effects for Katelyn, who is now 10 years old; she has not been hospitalised for seizures since beginning taking hemp paste.
"She's absolutely fantastic, she's miraculous," Barry said.
Since then, Barry and Joy have been dedicated to medicinal cannabis advocacy, and instrumental in cannabinoid research in Australia and the USA.
Barry grew up on a dairy farm near Taree in northern NSW, the second-youngest of five boys. His mother died when he was only 10 years old. He went to school at Wingham Rural School, then Taree High School. Barry, and his wife Joy (nee Cole), now live in Sydney.
Barry was awarded the AM "for significant service to cannabinoid medical research, to business, and to charitable organisations" the citation reads.
His work in those areas is quite a list:
- Cofounder of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics, University of Sydney, 2016.
- Cofounder for the establishment of the Lambert Center for the Study of Medicinal Cannabis and Hemp, Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania, USA.
- Cofounder of the Greenlight Project (medicinal cannabis advocacy group), 2017.
- Founder of the Count Charitable Foundation since 2004, which supports various organisations including Lifeline, Epilepsy Action Australia, Northcare and 'Katelyn's Gift'.
- Ongoing supporter of a range of start-up companies in the health, technology and financial services area.
- Ongoing campaigner for the legalisation of medical cannabis.
- Chairman and major financial supporter of Ecofibre (an Australian medical cannabis and hemp company), 2015-2022.
- Founder and owner of Count Financial Accounting Firms, 1980-2011.
Barry and Joy received an Honorary Fellowship to the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney in 2019 for their "substantial contributions to research excellence at the University through the establishment of the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics".
She's absolutely fantastic, she's miraculous.
- Barry Lambert AM
Thanks to Barry's astute business acumen, Barry and Joy turned philanthropists, and donated $33.7 million dollars to establish the Lambert Initiative for Cannabinoid Therapeutics at the University of Sydney, with the condition that research was for the benefit of other diseases and pain relief, and not just epilepsy.
The Lamberts aren't keen to be in the spotlight for their extraordinary donation, and one of the reasons Barry did accept the AM was because it wasn't just in recognition of the philanthropy.
"I wouldn't be happy if (the AM) was just because I gave away some money. The best award money can buy is not my idea of an award," Barry said.
Barry has only recently stepped down as chairman of Ecofibre, an Australian hemp company, as he feels his job is done.
"The TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) have announced that they will make CBD, which is the cannabinoid in hemp, available over the counter as soon as there is suitable research carried out," Barry said.
"Ecofibre's currently got a trial happening. It's coordinated out of Southern Cross University and the trial is on CBD which effectively is going to demonstrate that CBD does no harm. And when that happens, it'll be available over the counter, assuming that happens successfully, which we know it will be.
"So we expect sometime next year you'll be able to buy CBD over the counter without a doctor's prescription."
Currently, a prescription is needed from a doctor to access CBD oil, and it isn't always easy to get - a lot of doctors still refuse to describe it, Barry says, because they don't understand or know anything about the product.
We expect sometime next year you'll be able to buy CBD over the counter without a doctor's prescription.
- Barry Lambert AM
"There's a lot of education to be done, but that's for universities and other people to do, and the simple force of the public using it because everybody that uses it becomes an advocate. But word of mouth is very strong," Barry said.
"Once the CBD is accredited available, then that will be a great satisfaction, because word will get out.
"We've got pharmacies that are wanting to use it already. So it'll be quite successful and it's a substitute for all these terrible opioids."
Although Barry considers his "job done", it doesn't mean he's going to sit back and enjoy doing nothing. He continues his connection with the region he grew up in with projects on the go.
"We have bought land in Beach Street, Harrington (three lots) with the view of revitalising "old" Harrington. On 3-5 Beach Street we intend to house the 'Lambert Family Office' and once complete I intend to create a major foundation primarily for Manning kids," Barry explained.
"With our Harrington project we aim to create employment and housing for young people within a very old population."
Barry and joy also purchased land near Cattai Wetlands and have planted 1000 koala-friendly eucalyptus trees in a designated habitat area.
They are also building two houses made of hemp materials to be rented out, hoping to alleviate the current housing shortage even if just a little bit.
"I still refer to the Manning area as 'God's country' and trust that our 11 grandchildren will come to enjoy the Manning as much as we did," Barry said.