Olivia Newton-John, Other Celebs Who Have Used Marijuana For Medicinal Purposes

Grammy award winner Olivia Newton-John, who started using marijuana during her second battle with cancer in May, is all set to champion the drug. After experiencing the health properties of the drug hands-on, she has said she would promote the drug when she returns to Australia for a fund-raising gala for the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Centre. Newton-John was first diagnosed with cancer in the year 1992.

Speaking to News Corporation Australia, the Australian singer said she would do whatever she can to encourage the use of the drug. Newton-John said the drug, which is legal in her home state California, has significant health properties and should be available everywhere. “I use medicinal cannabis, which is really important for pain and healing. It’s a plant that has been maligned for so long, and has so many abilities to heal,” she was quoted as saying.

Interestingly, Newton-John is not the first celebrity to have voiced support for the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. In March, English actor Patrick Stewart revealed he used marijuana to help him deal with arthritis. The veteran actor admitted to using an ointment, spray and edible marijuana medicine while he was supporting a UK-first research initiative launched by the Oxford University that aimed to explore the benefits of cannabis-based medicines.

“Two years ago, in Los Angeles, I was examined by a doctor and given a note which gave me legal permission to purchase, from a registered outlet, cannabis-based products, which I was advised might help the ortho-arthritis in both my hands. I mean, my main problem is my hands don’t work very well. But thanks to cannabis they work much better than they used to. Thanks to the law in California now, it’s just a spray that I put on,” he was quoted as saying in multiple reports.

American actor and producer Morgan Freeman has been supporting the use of cannabis for more than a decade. He has even called marijuana "God’s own weed," and the actor's use of marijuana goes beyond recreational purposes. In 2015, while speaking to The Cannabist, a website based in Colorado that gives updates on the drug, Freeman confessed how cannabis helped him manage his daily pain after he had a car accident in 2008. “I have fibromyalgia pain in this arm,” he said, “and the only thing that offers any relief is marijuana. They’re talking about kids who have grand mal seizures, and they’ve discovered that marijuana eases that down to where these children can have a life. That right there, to me, says, ‘Legalize it across the board!’”

American pop star Lady Gaga has also spoken about using marijuana for both inspiration and medicinal purpose. Gaga, who suffered a hip injury in 2013, said marijuana was the only relief she had while she travelled for work despite her injury. Speaking to the Attitude magazine in 2013, Gaga admitted to smoking 15 joints in a day. “I was just numbing, numbing, numbing myself then sleeping it off, then getting on stage, killing it in pain, then getting off and smoking, smoking, smoking, not knowing what the pain was," she said. Notably, medical or recreational marijuana is now legal in 29 U.S. states including Oregon, California, Colorado, Washington, Massachusetts, Alaska, Nevada, and Maine.