Olivia Newton-John says she has turned to medical marijuana in a bid to battle the pain associated with her stage-four cancer.
The Australian singer was first diagnosed with breast cancer 27 years ago. Initially beating the illness, the cancer reappeared in 2013, and in 2017 she was told it had metastasised and spread to her bones.
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Now, the four-time Grammy winner has opened up about how she uses medical cannabis to find pain relief.
"I really believe the cannabis has made a huge difference," Newton-John told 60 Minutes Australia in an interview.
'If I don't take the drops I can feel the pain, so I know it's working".
Newton-Johns lives in California, where both medicinal and recreational marijuana are legal. Her husband, John Easterling, grows the plants for her in their backyard and played a role in convincing the Aussie star to give it a go.
"I was highly confident up front, but deep inside I was a bit nervous," he told 60 Minutes.
Easterling says despite drugs being widely used in the entertainment industry, Newton-John had never taken to cannabis in the past.
"She remembered smoking one time in the '70s and said 'I don't want to do that again', and didn't."
Newton-John told 60 Minutes that despite her stage-four diagnosis, she felt death was "a long way away".
"I see it as something in my body that I'm getting rid of. I don't talk about a battle or a war because I think that sets up that kind of feeling in your body, of you're bottling something strange inside you. I let it go," she said.
The 70-year-old said she had no interest in knowing how long doctors thought she might live.
'I don't read statistics. If you believe the statistics, you're going to make them happen. If somebody tells you, ''you have six months to live'', very possibly you will because you believe that,' she said.
Newton-John and her family are now pushing for medicinal cannabis to be legalised in Australia.
Newshub.
