Commemorating Olivia Newton-John’s courageous advocacy of medical marijuana
Don’t let Sandra Dee fool you, Dame Olivia Newton-John was a fan of this fine green.
In light of her recent death from breast cancer, the award-winning movie star and musical hitmaker also leaves a legacy of advocating for medical marijuana. Newton-John openly supported the legalization of medicinal cannabis both in her native Australia and in the US, where she had lived for over 40 years.
She chronically failed to apologize for her personal consumption.
“Medical cannabis is something that should be available to anyone going through a chronic illness or [has] Pain,” she told Australia’s Who magazine, per The Daily Mail. She was so passionate that the Grease star held meetings with policymakers, spoke at conferences about legalization, and dedicated her resources to funding plant medicine and cancer research.
She was a proud medical marijuana patient
In 2019, Newton-John shared with Good Housekeeping how important cannabis was for treating her cancer symptoms; She was first diagnosed in 1992 and most recently in 2017. Like many patients, even with legal access, she was reluctant to try cannabis due to stigma. But her husband, Amazon Herb Company founder John Easterling, convinced her to give it a try. Fun fact, they met while on an ayahuasca retreat in Peru.
She credited the remedies he created from cannabis grown on her California farm for her physical and mental well-being, and endorsed Andy Cohen’s benefits on What Happens Live in 2020.
“It’s really helped me with the pain, with my sleep, with my anxiety and, I think, with inflammation,” she explained. She also used cannabis to replace morphine after breaking her sacrum in 2018, saying, “I’m totally off painkillers, I’m totally off morphine, and I attribute that to cannabis.”
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Her medical commitment went far beyond medical cannabis and herself; Newton-John literally helped found a hospital in Australia, the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Center, to “discover and develop breakthrough cancer therapies.” She also established the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund to support research and documentation of herbal medicines such as cannabis.
She used her platform as a socialite to spread the word
When influential people like Olivia Newton-John champion a drug as stigmatized as cannabis, it becomes normalized in ways that can transform lives.
Despite the tremendous recent advances in the international legalization of cannabis, many people still associate the plant with aberrations or negative effects. Newton-John herself admitted to Good Housekeeping that she was “a little nervous because I don’t like the feel of mind-altering things…but I started very slowly…and it really helped me a lot.”
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I remember when I first found out that Olivia Newton-John was a medical marijuana patient. I had just started writing about cannabis and still carried a lot of stigma even after experiencing its healing properties myself.
There’s something about a celebrity you looked up to as a child when she talks about cannabis as a nonjudgmental patient. Not only did she use the plant for fun—not that there was anything wrong with that—but she found it helpful for her symptoms and was willing to share her story with the world. She gave me permission I could not have given myself; that it’s okay to find relief in medicinal cannabis.
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The scientific evidence on cannabis and cancer continues to evolve, with new research emerging in real-time. Although more research is needed, preliminary evidence that cannabis can help with pain, inflammation, and nausea looks promising.
These kinds of insights would not be possible without the vocal endorsements of cannabis activists like Olivia; With legalization comes not only more access and education, but also more resources to further study their potential.
So if you love weed too, crank it up for the legendary Olivia Newton-John tonight.
Resources for dealing with cancer
Ashley Keenan
Ashley Keenan is the Canadian Editor at Leafly and a freelance journalist, consultant and patient advocate in the cannabis industry.
Check out Ashley Keenan’s articles
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