Singer Etheridge smoked cannabis during cancer treatment

US singer Melissa Etheridge says she smoked medicinal cannabis to help with the side effects of chemotherapy during her treatment for breast cancer.

Etheridge, 44, who was diagnosed over a year ago, is now cancer-free.

“Instead of taking five or six of the prescriptions, I decided to go a natural route and smoke cannabis,” Etheridge said in a US television interview.

When asked how her doctors reacted, Etheridge said: “Every single one was, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s the best help for the effects of chemotherapy.”’

The singer said she smoked cannabis every day for her pain and symptoms and “the minute I didn’t feel it, I stopped.”

The use of cannabis with a doctor’s recommendation is legal in California and nine other states, but is against US federal law.

Asked if she was concerned about federal prosecution, Etheridge replied, “No, I didn’t worry. But it was worth it.”

She recently released a new greatest hits album, “The Road Less Travelled,” including the new song “I Run for Life,” which is dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.

Source: US-breakingnews ,14.10.05