Although Oliva Newton-John died on Monday in her Southern California home, her legacy will surely live on — and nowhere more so than on her daughter’s Oregon cannabis farm.
As many of her fans are aware, the star of Grease was a passionate advocate for medical cannabis. She had battled breast cancer since 1992 — which likely led to her death, per her husband John Easterling’s statement.
Daughter Chloe Lattanzi, who is also an actress and singer, started Laughing Dog Farms in Canby, Oregon in 2016 with her husband James Driskill.
“We leverage the powers of microbes, Amazonian botanicals, and gemstones to maximize our plant’s fullest expression,” states the farm’s website, where “bioharmonic pre-rolls,” “tea leaf blunts,” and cannabis flower are listed among its products.
Newton-John’s daughter has followed in her mother’s footsteps in more than just cannabis advocacy: They also released “Window in the Wall” together in 2021, a track off Newton-John’s album of duets.
Newton-John was vocal about the impact that cannabis had on her own symptoms — though she initially began consuming the plant for a 2018 sacrum injury. Newton-John credits the plant for getting her off the addictive opioids that she had initially been taking for the intense pain from the injury.
“It really is a magical miracle plant,” she was reported saying by the Daily Mail.
“I have seen the incredible beauty of the plants and their healing abilities,” she continued, according to the Daily Mail. “If I hadn’t had that experience, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you about kinder therapies… your body wants to heal itself.”
Newton-John opened a public cancer research and treatment center in Melbourne in 2012, and on Instagram, Easterling requested that mourners send donations to the organization in her memory. The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre is currently taking part in 200 clinical trials.
Newton-John wielded her celebrity in support of fellow cancer patients, lobbying the Australian government to widen access to medicinal marijuana available for those going through treatment. The country legalized cannabis for medicinal uses in 2016, and has since approved some 260,000 prescriptions. The most common health condition experienced by those who use the drug within the Australian legal system is chronic pain.
The England-born “Physical” singer’s daughter is not the only family member with whom she shares her cannabic sensibility. Husband Easterling — Lattanzi’s stepfather — is the founder of a medicinal botanicals brand called Amazon Herb Co. which later merged with TriVita, Inc. He grew Newton-John’s weed supply. The star credits him with having started her on using the drug, and Easterling cultivates as many as 21 full-spectrum strains of weed at a time.
“I was a little nervous because I don’t like the feeling of any kind of mind-altering thing,” Newton-John said in a 2019 interview with Good Housekeeping. “But I started out very slowly, and I adjusted to it, and it’s really helped me greatly.”
Newton-John was diagnosed with cancer three times, in 1992, 2013, and 2017.
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