The two-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge has made her stance on cannabis well-known. Though a recreational user since 21, when Etheridge learned the medicinal impact marijuana could make, she became a fierce cannabis advocate.
So much so, it seems, that she’s sharing the experience with her kids. Thanks to the education Etheridge has given them, her children think of cannabis as “medicine.” This falls in line with recent news that hat 47 percent of parents are open with their children regarding marijuana use.
“My children have a very clear understanding of cannabis,” Etheridge told Yahoo during their Weed & the American Family report. “When I hold it without shame or confusion they can understand it as simple as if I was pointing to a bottle of Percocet and said, ‘That’s mama’s medicine.’ You take the naughtiness out of it and it’s not something kids then run to.”
“I have smoked with my older two,” Etheridge continued, the mother-of-four referencing her 20-year-old daughter Bailey and 18-year-old son Beckett. “It was funny at first and then they realized it’s a very natural end-of-the-day and it brings you closer, so I’d much rather have a smoke with my grown kids than a drink.”
After being diagnosed with breast cancer, Etheridge underwent lumpectomy and received several treatments of chemotherapy and radiation. Doctors offered her painkillers and other prescription drugs, but singer and closer friend Dave Crosby suggested medical marijuana, which she eventually turned to.
“It was a wake-up call for me,” she said. “When I used it as medicine, it became so clear to me that it has been maligned and misunderstood, and I really wanted to help people who are suffering. Going through chemotherapy is suffering…and cannabis helps so many parts of just that. That’s just the beginning of what it does medicinally.”
Etheridge is also an active member in the business side of cannabis as well. Her cannabis-infused wine No Label is currently available to California residents with a valid ID.
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