Morgan Freeman: “Legalise cannabis for pain relief”

Morgan Freeman has thrown his support against the movement to legalise marijuana, citing Woodstock as an example of how the attitudinal shift to the drug creates nothing but problems.

“Look at Woodstock 1969,” Freeman said in an interview reported in The Guardian. “They said, ‘We’re not going to bother them or say anything about smoking marijuana,’ and not one problem or fight”.

The 1999 30-year anniversary Woodstock festival was a different story: there were riots and arrests as police cracked down on drug users.

When asked how he takes cannabis, Mr Freeman laughingly replied, “Any way I can!”

But the issue is no laughing matter for the 77-year-old actor. He uses the drug to ease the pain of fibromyalgia in his arm following a near-fatal car crash in 2008 and says it is the only thing that provides relief. Mr Morgan is passionate about the other medicinal uses of marijuana in the treatment of epilepsy and other conditions.

“They’re talking about kids who have grand mal seizures, and they’ve discovered that marijuana eases that down to where these children can have a life. That right there, to me, says, ‘Legalise it across the board!’”

In Australia, legalisation of marijuana for medicinal uses may not be far off. Politicians including the Prime Minister, NSW Premier Mike Baird and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews have expressed support for the idea, and a clinical trial is due to start soon.

Over the past 10 years, support for legalising marijuana has grown steadily and, according to Roy Morgan research, the most significant boost to supporting the movement has come from the over 65 demographic, which has seen a 50 per cent increase in the past decade.

Do you support the legalisation of marijuana for medicinal purposes? Have you changed your position over time? We’d love to know what helped changed your mind!