LE COIN PRESSE

‘I know what I would do’: ONJ
Olivia features in new medicinal cannabis doco

The Northern Star
20 Apr 2019

MUSIC superstar and Northern Rivers resident Olivia Newton John is one of the faces of a new film about medicinal cannabis in Australia called High as Mike.
The feature-length documentary by three local filmmakers follows the quest of Tamworth man Mike, as he tries to access medical cannabis to treat a brain tumour that is slowly making him blind.
In an online trailer, Newton John is introduced as a ‘patient’.
“I can’t advise you to break the law, but, you know, I know what I would do,” Newton John says to a person talking to her on a video call who mentions his only option is to access the black market.
“High as Mike is a documentary about the difficulties that Australians are having getting medicinal cannabis and I encourage you all to go to Fan-Force and get the movie screened in your home town,” Newton-John says to the trailer’s audiences while next to her husband, John Easterling.
The artist has spoken to American and Australian media about the need to access medical marijuana and her use of it as a cancer patient to alleviate pain.
The film was produced by DC Stories, a collaborative venture between cinematographers Daniel Raffaele, Peter Cross and award-winning editor Craig Wilson.
Mike has a brain tumour. It’s the sort of tumour that won’t kill him, but it will rob him of his sight.
The film shows how, with the current stagnation of medicinal cannabis prescription in Australia, Mike sets off on a road trip of discovery to find out if medicinal cannabis could reduce his tumour and help regain his eyesight.
Travelling from Tamworth, Mike’s journey takes him to the Gold Coast, Nimbin, Newcastle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra, Uluru, Townsville and Sydney.
The documentary uses patient testimonies with a broad range of medical conditions and expert opinions from all sides of the medicinal cannabis debate and aims to offer a balanced perspective of the current situation regarding the prescription of the plant. ● Screening at Coolangatta BCC Cinemas on May 6, and Tweed City Hoyts Cinemas on May 22.

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