Malcolm Lee, a former Newcastle man who was prominent in the campaign to legalise cannabis as a medical treatment, has died aged 74.
Mr Lee escaped a jail sentence in 2015 after he was found guilty of manufacturing a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The Islington man, then 66, had been growing marijuana and distributing cannabis oil to patients with terminal cancer or in severe pain.
Police raided his house in 2014 and found 116 marijuana plants.
Newcastle District Court Judge Roy Ellis said in sentencing Mr Lee to a good-behaviour bond that it was "fairly clear ... that he knew the risks he was running, but nevertheless it seems that his motivation to help others overrode his own self-preservation".
Judge Ellis found there were exceptional circumstances and noted Lee would be a good candidate to help with the state government's terminal illness cannabis scheme.
"Given he has the necessary skills and the product he has produced seems to have done a great job for a number of those who have had the benefit of it," he said.
Mr Lee continued to campaign for the legal use of cannabis and treat people who sought him out.
"It was a very hard life for Malcolm with the authorities, but he was on a mission," a relative told the Newcastle Herald.
Mr Lee died last week in a Newcastle hospital after being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism.
The relative, who asked not to be named, said Mr Lee was the "kind of guy who would give the shirt off his back".
"You wouldn't believe the amount of people that came to Malcolm for healing," she said.
"A lot of them were last-resort. He changed their lives for the better."
Mr Lee had been a "highly unusual person and very, very intelligent".
"He had a great thirst for scientific knowledge, always questioning, always researching, always debating."
Women's Cancer Support Gold Coast wrote on Facebook after Mr Lee's death: "Thankyou Malcolm for all you did advocating for the community. Your work and memory will live on forever."
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