When singer-songwriter Melissa Etheridge stepped into the musical mainstream in the early 1990s, she brought the world a collection of music that many people consider timeless contributions to the American soundtrack. A decade later, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and openly admits to taking advantage of the medicinal benefits of marijuana to help ease the nausea and loss of appetite from chemotherapy.
“I believe this is a huge opportunity,” said Etheridge in a recent interview with Bloomberg’s Pimm Fox. “A huge business and a huge market. You’re going to see my name with a lot of these things. I actually have a wine that’s coming out. It’s a cannabis-infused wine, which actually tastes amazing.”
Etheridge, who has just released a new album, entitled, This Is M.E., took the stage for a show at Albany’s Egg Theater earlier this year, where she took the opportunity to speak out about the importance of bringing medical marijuana to New York. “As a cancer survivor, I know the ravages of a serious illness, and patients who are suffering deserve access to a medication that can provide them relief,” said Etheridge. “Tonight, I stand with those patients, with their caregivers, and with the vast majority of New Yorkers who support medical marijuana.”
During the Bloomberg interview, Etheridge said that she highly recommends cannabis for anyone who is suffering from the negative effects of cancer treatment and that she hopes to soon bring her cannabis-infused wine to all medical marijuana states. “I really look forward to bringing this to the world in a not scary way,” she said. “Not a drug outlaw way. It’s not that anymore. This is an American business that really needs a lot of help.”
