Green Light (2019) Movie Script
1
[thunder claps]
Yeah, I've been asked to
contact this young guy.
We're gonna get his exact age
and everything as we talk,
it's just part of the
data gathering process,
but I think he's 18.
This guy is 18 and
he's got bowel cancer
and he's had a bowel resection.
So for...
[phone rings]
Do you mind if I just
grab this phone call?
Kid going wild in there.
[kid cheerfully squeals]
Hello, it's Luke here.
[Tara] Hello Luke, this is Tara.
I assume that you're calling me
looking for some
kind of assistance
-related to the work that I do
-yeah.
that George has
probably told you about.
-I need to tell her.
-well, well my mum's been,
she's been given just a
little bit of time to live.
Can I, I just wanna,
you've caught me at a at
a really interesting time.
I'm making a documentary
about the difficulties
that people are facing
accessing medical cannabis
and why they have to come
and seek people like us out
and just the guys are
actually filming me right now.
[intense music]
Can I proceed to have
a chat with you now
while they're filming me?
How do you feel about that?
Okay, so I'll just grab some
notes here if you don't mind.
[Tara] We just
found out yesterday.
So if I start crying, then...
-It's okay.
-Yeah.
She's pretty young,
she's only 65.
I heard that there's
a cannabis oil
that is cancer-fighting
and then there's
another one as well.
I dunno the differences.
With the oils that we have,
be it CBD or THC
or a blend of both.
I need to let you
know that THC itself
can have some really
strong psychoactive effects
and some people find
that really unpleasant.
So I'm gonna ask that
we stay in touch.
[Tara] Well my only
like huge worry
is that she's in a
nursing home, like,
I'm just worried like if they
do a blood test or something,
It's gonna come back on us.
Are we going against the law?
Like I don't want to
go to jail, you know?
You could go through a process
called the Special
Access Scheme.
It does prove very difficult
for a lot of people
to access that.
That's why I exist.
Some people have often passed
away waiting for approval.
I can't promise you and I
think it would be really bad,
a duty of care for me to
do so is to promise you
that we can cure her cancer.
What I have seen is people's
cancers go into remission.
We've certainly had
doctors and oncologists say
that they've never
seen results like this.
[Tara] And how soon do you think
we can get things from you?
It'll be a matter of days.
[Tara] Okay, thank you so much.
-Okay, all right.
-All right, all right.
Okay, thanks very much.
-Thank you, bye.
-Okay.
[slow dramatic music]
[crickets chirp]
[phone rings]
It's my kid, hang on one second.
Hey darling.
[Wild Rose] Hi dad.
How are you, sweetheart?
[Wild Rose] I'm good, thank you.
Look, we started making
the documentary today.
-Hi.
-Hi.
This is Wild Rose. What
does Wild Rose think of
the hemp and the
cannabis revolution?
I think that it's
a really good idea
and that the government
is not very smart
for taking it away.
Hey, I'll give you a call.
Let's talk after school.
-Okay, bye.
-Have a great day.
-Bye.
-Bye.
I get up at about 06:00, 06:30,
check my emails, check my texts.
Normally there's at least
three or four messages
from people that need help.
It's just so I can keep
track of who's got what.
[Camera Man] How
many names in there?
[Nick] Most of them
are either dying
or they've been told
they're gonna die
or they're in serious pain.
They can't handle
the opiates anymore.
And they've all been reading
about medicinal cannabis
and how it can help them.
If I just put my finger
in, he'll strike and bite
onto the end of it.
So I've gotta be
quicker than him
and let him know that
I'm the alpha creature
and then he'll submit.
There we go, now he knows.
Yeah, there we go.
He has submitted.
Give him a pat, give him a pat.
I sold my house and took a
year off to start this service.
I gave away medicine
completely free for a year.
Get off, get off.
[Luke] Get off?
Quickly the service
grew to hundreds
and then thousands of people
and that meant that
I didn't really have
a day off for years.
Dude, come on now, serious?
Can I have it now?
I want to pet it.
[Luke] There was a lot of
tension in our household.
My partner wore some
of the sideways effects
of not being able to process
that fully and myself.
[Little Boy] Is that all done?
-[Luke] Is what all done?
-Are you all done?
I'm not all done, but
you can come out with me
and we'll feed the
goats together, okay?
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
I didn't really have
a day off for years.
I had no nine to
five boundaries.
Let's go, mate, this way.
Where are you taking us?
It could start as early
as between five and eight
in the morning and it would
finish most nights, 10 or 11.
Here they come.
Those are work hours
that I got used to
in the hospitality industry
when I owned multiple
hospitality ventures.
My boy wasn't getting the
time with me that he deserved.
So as he started to become
more interested in me,
I've made the changes necessary.
That's a 10 mil tube of CBD oil.
It's a pure hemp,
whole plant extract.
10 mils of that
comes in and around 260, $280.
I've got a pretty good
support network around me.
I've got a very loving and
caring partner who I confide in.
I've got three beautiful
daughters, my ex-wives,
and a little boy
about to be born.
But yeah, look,
there's highs and lows.
I got a text from
a woman yesterday
who's got a little kid
that's got epilepsy
and you know, they've been going
through years and
years of seizures
and one tube of that has
completely changed their life.
At the same time, I've
had to say goodbye
to quite a few patients.
You know, and you definitely
build up a rapport
with them on the phone.
I think it's just
made me stronger
and I'm a pretty tough
guy most of the time, yup.
I got an email
about two weeks ago
from a gentleman that
was referred to me.
I explained to him the process
and costs that were involved
and he said to me, "I can't
afford anything like that.
I don't really have much money."
And I said, "I'm really
sorry to hear that."
I said, "Look, can you
send me a photo of yourself
and the tumor so we
can have a look at it?"
So he sent me a photo
and that's the photo.
When I saw that,
my heart just sank.
How can this guy walk around
feeling like that and
looking like that?
I mean, could you imagine
walking into a shop or,
you know looking at your
partner or your family
having this horrible growth
on the side of your head?
So I forwarded that onto Luke.
Good day, see you later.
-Hey Lukie.
-How are you, man?
-Good.
-I've got one I've got one
for topical and
one for internal.
-Okay.
-I don't wanna actually
do the application.
I give people suggestions
and then they decide
what to do with it.
[Nick] Yeah, I think
that's a really good idea.
Okay, well do you wanna
give me a call then
when you're just coming
past the cop shop?
[Nick] All right, see you soon.
I started hairdressing
when I was 15
and then embarked on a
pretty successful career
as a freelance hairstylist
and makeup artist.
But compared to what I do now,
it wasn't really fulfilling.
I felt this calling to get
out there and help people.
[slow intense music]
[Woman] If I put it up here,
it might go in his ear.
[Nick] Yeah, no, you
don't want it running off.
It's a precious and
expensive medicine, so.
[Woman] Just tell
me if it hurts.
It doesn't hurt.
They're saying there's
no nerve endings
on the tumor.
[Nick] So it's taken you a
couple of years to find us?
Yeah because it's an
unsightly looking thing,
I don't go out during the day.
But if I do go anywhere,
it's in the car
and I usually have
a bandage over it
that I tape on.
And yeah.
So it's like the house
becomes like a prison for me.
[Woman] It does bleed
quite profusely.
I don't know if he knocks it
or whatever, but like quite
-a substantial amount of blood
-yeah, sometimes I pick
-at it and it bleeds.
-will come out.
That's the only time it bleeds.
-It's my fault.
-When's your mum back?
[Woman] 15th I think.
-14th.
-14th?
Well, I haven't seen a doctor
for a couple of years now.
Yeah, the main one
was the oncologist.
It was straight into
hospital, chop it off.
He wouldn't even look
at the information
I took out there about
other possible treatments.
It was a terrible
experience going up there.
The room was just
packed with people,
mainly older people and yeah,
they just all go
through the burn,
poison or cut procedure.
I understand and respect
that you said that.
At this point, you're
not open to it.
-Look, but if you do,
-Yeah?
I guess it would be
valuable to find a doctor.
I have seen good results across
a broad spectrum of therapy.
So just so you know that
there are those things
-available to you.
-Okay.
I'm gonna do this.
Yeah, exactly.
Beautiful, perfect.
So what we'd ask of
you is to keep a diary
about the effects
that you are feeling
and we just monitor
you as we go along.
Okay, thanks so
much for having us.
Yes, thank you.
-Thanks, Luke.
-Really appreciate it.
-Yeah, thanks Nick.
-Your welcome.
-Lovely to meet you.
-No fuss.
-Thanks fellas.
-You're welcome.
That's heavy.
You did that really well.
Oh, what's that fucking smell?
-What is that?
-It's foul.
Oh, is that me or you?
Tell me it's you, tell
me it's you not me.
Yes, it's you.
[dramatic music]
I have to remain really neutral
about the potential health
outcomes that can happen here.
I don't get myself excited.
As you see, I'll try
and be really clear
about what the boundaries are
because otherwise I'm carrying
this person's excitement
in my own being and hoping
this amount of hope, you know?
And then I know so many
people that have died now.
[water runs]
Hi, how you doing?
Good, good.
This is a strategic
meeting in support
of compassionate access schemes
for medical cannabis patients
to be able to care
for themselves.
We've got lawyers and doctors,
we've got people
like us, providers.
So I'm looking forward to
seeing what comes out of this.
It's an exciting meeting because
there's been a lot of talk
and not a lot of action
and we're all sick of it.
So what I've got here is a
summary of how you as a patient
can get access to
medicinal cannabis
in other jurisdictions
around the world.
Because there are so
few steps in this,
I actually had room
to put in the flags,
the national flags as well.
Okay, Lucy, can you
explain in 30 seconds
what we have to do in Australia?
[audience laughs]
It took me a while
to get that open.
I need someone maybe to hold
-the bottom of it.
-Sure.
[Man] So these are the steps
required in Australia for a
patient and a GP to collaborate
to access medicinal cannabis
[Man] Probably 40
new inquiries a day,
about 1000 a month.
We were at that point in time,
getting hundreds
of inquiries a day.
Everyone's phones ringing
with these desperately
confused patients.
Clearly patients need to be able
to afford the medicine that
they're being prescribed.
There's already a
significant cost barrier
for people approaching us.
They actually say that
medicinal cannabis
has to be last line therapy.
The whole system
contradicts itself
in terms of who's
getting access.
We provide it for free, we've
never turned anyone away.
My patient with cancer
has to be on the opiates.
And only when that fails,
why not medicinal
cannabis being first-line?
When legal doesn't
mean available,
-then illegal means nothing.
-Absolutely.
2018 is gonna be a scrappy year.
There's been a lot of voyeurism,
people standing on the edges
waiting to get involved
when it's convenient.
That's probably why
we're at where we're at,
which is nowhere.
[dramatic music]
The room where my mentor died
was where that end
light is still on there.
He had cancer, but he taught
a lot of us how to live.
The promise that I
actively made to him
was that I will always
give part of my life
in loving service to
other beings around me
and you know so
help me if I don't.
And he said, "No worries.
I'm absolutely gonna
hold you to that."
I wanna read out some
of the texts that I got
in the last few days.
Some of the emails that I
got in the last few days
and just try and help people,
to see what it would be like
to receive this every
day of your life.
One after the other, after
the other, after the other.
You know, I've been told,
we shouldn't this
an emotional issue,
we should be very
reasonable about it
and always be diplomatic.
Well fuck, really?
[wood clanks]
[fire crackles]
[food sizzles]
What have we got, buddy?
We've got cherry tomatoes,
capers, onions, chili, garlic,
olive oil, lemon zest
And that is going to be mixed
with some smoked trout
and some fresh parsley
and a little tickle.
I mean, there's a reason why
we've been going this long.
It's not because of me,
it's because of Luke.
I do get pretty hectic,
don't I at times?
Yeah, he does get hectic
but I mean, what we do
is pretty stressful too.
You know, there's a lot of,
there's a lot of stress
involved, you know?
Basically what we've
done is we've taken on
a responsibility now, a
responsibility of care,
-of a duty of care.
-A duty of care.
-A Real duty of care.
-And it's, you know,
it's probably in the tens
of thousands of people.
So I suppose that's pretty
incriminating that comment,
-but it's true.
-Well that's between us
and the organizations that
we directly relate with.
Yeah, it's not just us,
but you know, it's
you know, it's yeah.
There's a large network now.
[Camera Man] With
you all cautious,
what are some frustrations
for you with Nick?
There's an element of caution
that I sometimes have felt Nick
wasn't fully aware of, what
I would call carelessness,
but he's really just an
enthusiasm to normalize this
into something
that's good and okay.
The way that I communicate
with patients is all,
I'm pretty open about it at all.
That's amazing.
-Yeah--
-Restaurant quality?
Oh yeah.
Lukie, what do you
think is gonna happen?
What do you thinks gonna happen
when we finished
making this film?
It's gonna go to cinema,
it's gonna go to TV,
people are gonna watch it.
Local police stations
are gonna see it.
What's gonna happen?
Well thanks for bringing up
the terrifying potential
of this film, mate.
Should we paint our
cars like camouflage
so they can't see us
when we drive around?
I questioned the wisdom
of doing this film
when we may be on the cusp of,
I mean, it's kinda
like doing a story
on how bad East Germany
is a month before
the Berlin Wall fell.
Like in myself, I'm
sitting here thinking,
all right, why the fuck
are we doing this again?
Okay, all right.
Why it is is because if
people could access this stuff
in a safe, legal and
preferably affordable manner,
they really gonna
come and hunt us down
on the other side
of the country?
Rubbish, they gonna
go to their doctor,
they're gonna get a script,
they're gonna go
and get the stuff.
Like for me, I'm not
attacking the police
or the politicians.
I know I think the
real problem lies in
far larger business interests
that set the game here
and set the rules and
that the players in it,
we can easily blame them.
Ah, it's the cops or
it's this or it's that.
I think that's rubbish.
I think that they're as much a,
a symptom of a problem as we are
a symptom of a problem as well.
Look man, I was just
born and bred in nature
and when I come to a
big city like this,
I just don't know
how people do it.
I reckon that they
probably think the same
about where I live
and we all just get used
to whatever we're given,
but look at it, there's like
20, 30 stories of people
just stacked up on
top of each other.
And we're just getting green,
we're getting green lights
all the way through here.
I think the universe is telling
us that we're onto something
with a name for this
documentary, "Green Light".
[rain drops clank]
It's fucking pissing down.
If there's anything
that's too incriminating,
I've got a really tight time.
I'm just really stoked
that you've allowed me
to come and have
a chat with you.
Are they fucking
recording already, bro?
-That's all right, okay.
-Yeah.
My physical medical condition,
it's a degenerative
bone condition, genetic.
So I was born supposedly
with you know,
-multiple fractures, yeah.
-Multiple fractures
-from the birthing process?
-Yeah.
All right and do you remember
from when you're really young?
Yeah, yeah, just
always breaking bones.
You know on my
chair the other day,
just like tipped
over out of nowhere
and I knocked my head
and in that split second,
I was like, okay, am I
gonna be able to walk again?
[Luke laughs]
Am I gonna you know, have
to go to get an ambulance?
-Did anything break?
-Nah,
like a couple of ribs,
but no breaks, just fractures.
Like it happens all the time.
There's like lots of reasons
why people look at me.
Well, there's only one reason
it's cause I'm different.
They'll take a second glance
and can be a bit
preserving at times.
-That's all.
-Sure.
So I get a little bit of
social anxiety, if you will
and I've, yeah.
I've been diagnosed with PTSD
and all that sort
of charge as well.
-Wow.
-Yeah.
Basically I keep
a packet of Endone
which is oxycodone around.
Lyrica and Endone and Temazepam.
They're effective in what they
target and what they treat,
but you pay a toll for them.
-You know?
-Okay.
So I always feel like
I've just got cotton wool
wrapped around my brain.
I've given you some CBD oil.
I hope that you will be able
to put aside other things
to a large degree
and only use them when
absolutely necessary.
Yeah, that's my hope too, man.
Don't let yourself
get pushed around.
[both men chuckle]
[calm music]
[Nick] Yeah, no,
you woke up my wife.
She's pretty upset.
-Anyway, sorry about that.
-No, I'm sorry about that.
So you've got three,
you've got three
tubes there, right?
-You've got three syringes?
-Yup.
The large one is the CBD.
-Yup.
-Okay, which is the
non-psychoactive cannabis oil.
The CBD, I'd suggest that you
take that two times a day.
[Man] That's what I
needed tonight last night.
-Yup, yup.
-Day and night, what to do.
Okay, you can also
vaporize that.
So if you want vaporizer,
I can send it up to you.
[Man] That's what I'm saying.
This is a trial only
based on [man mumbles]
and they're the best
in our community.
-Okay, great.
-But they saved my life,
-I shouldn't be here.
-Okay.
[Man] Technically, I should've
been gone seven years ago.
Hey mate, I've
actually gotta go.
I've got two other
appointments that are booked
and I've gotta
talk to right now.
-Yup.
-Just...
Spend a couple of days
on it, see how you feel,
and give me a call back
in a couple of days
and just give me
a bit of a rundown
on how they're working for you.
[Man] Please don't give up.
And also unless anybody
or anything goes wrong,
your wife's got
the phone number,
please ring me because
I will ring everybody.
And they know even if
need be to get you out,
so I can break my fucking um,
what do you call
when you get old?
My pension to try
to get you out.
Oh, that's very sweet, mate.
Thanks, I hope it
never gets to that.
No, but I'm just saying
if some fucking low life
decides to be a
shit in your area,
we're there for you,
-if you know what I mean?
-Thanks mate.
Yep, thank you very much.
-Bye.
-Okay, bye mate.
I mean I feel for him.
You know, he got run
over by a postal truck.
You know, he was
a champion sailor,
active member of his
community and he,
he got run down.
So he's a paraplegic
but still has all
the nerve endings
and still feels all the pain.
Definitely a lot better for
you than taking opiates.
Right, I've gotta
make another call.
[Camera Man] Would you mind
if we just keep rolling?
Yeah, no, go for it.
Man, it's like this, hey...
Hey, it's like this
everyday, mate.
[calm music]
All right, give us a
call back, thanks man.
-Is this good?
-Which way do you
wanna go though,
should we take her up
through the mountains?
Yeah, the back way or?
Well there'll be definitely
no cops if we go the back way.
[eerie music]
[Nick] Yeah, my air
con kind of works
and then it doesn't work.
So just give it a minute,
it should kick in again.
Fucking hell.
I think our families
are really concerned.
I know they are, both our
partners are concerned.
I mean you know,
they both love us,
they both believe
in what we're doing
but at the same time, you know,
we've both got young children.
You know, I've got three
beautiful daughters
and they all need me.
And a baby on the way
and you know there's
no way that my partner
wants to raise a baby
whilst I'm incarcerated.
I mean that thought's fucked.
Look at that, mate, I
told you we'd make it here
if you just go that way.
[Nick] I've got a lot
going on in my head, mate.
-Huh?
-I've got a lot
going on in my head.
I've got fucking four
different conversations
going on at once.
I've got fucking
three sick people
trying to get hold of me,
I'm trying to organize this,
pull off a fucking interview.
Well, I get you are.
Just put them aside,
I've got fucking all
those people as well.
All the dying, I get it,
but you gotta put 'em aside.
[eerie music]
-Are we gonna have oil?
-No.
-Are you gonna take it?
-No.
Okay, turn around.
-Yum.
-Good job.
You love your oil, don't you?
More.
You want more?
Can I give you the
last little bit?
-Good job.
-Awe, mate.
Thank you.
-All done, thank you, Hunter.
-A pretty good effort, mate.
Hi, Danielle, your
friend posted an article
on your son on my CBD page
on Facebook and brought your
son's story to my attention.
I supply people with
CBD and THC oils
and if this is something
that you've considered,
I'd be happy to help you.
I suggest you speak
to your doctors first
and see what they say.
Please be reassured that we have
the best quality organic oils.
Thanks, Nicholas.
And then your response was,
"Nicholas, thank you
for your message.
We're seven months
into my son's treatment
and his tumors are getting worse
and are now desperately
looking for other options
to combat this, so I'm
definitely interested in this.
We have an appointment next
week with Hunter's oncologist
and we'll find out
what they suggest.
Thank you so much."
I put my hope into the oil but,
you know, what else can you do?
Your child's on chemo
and it literally
was our last resort.
So if it didn't
work, it didn't work.
What happened with
the tumors growth?
We had a terrible
result in his MRI,
has tumors were growing
at an exponential rate.
His oil was started, his next
MRI, his tumor had shrunk.
And the MRI a month later,
his tumors were
almost almost gone.
You wouldn't say he was
even going through chemo
because he was just that normal.
After the chemo cycle,
we kept him on the oil,
our oncologist said,
"Keep him on for a year,
take him off, see what happens."
We weaned him off the oils
and he had his next MRI
and tumors had
started growing back.
So we put him straight
back onto the oil.
Three weeks later,
he had another MRI
and his MRI was clear.
You can't tell me that
the oil hasn't done that.
What was the worst
case scenario?
Hunters eyes would
have been removed,
-both of them.
-Right.
I mean, we had a checkup
with his oncologists
a few weeks ago.
He said, "If somebody
had given him a bet
for a million dollars
to say Hunter would
be where he is today,
he wouldn't have taken that."
Are you planning on continuing
taking the cannabis oils?
If we have to sell houses
and cars and we'll do that.
Let's let them not get to that.
Yeah, let's not.
You just need a bigger garden
and we can show you
how to make your own.
It takes courage
to break the law
and to give your child,
you're very, very young child
-an illicit substance.
-Yeah.
I mean, you took a punt on me.
And I'm glad I did.
Yeah, well I mean
you could have also
just reported me straight to
the police as well saying,
there's this guy
stalking me on Facebook
trying to sell me pot
'cause you know, I did feel
a bit weird about that,
but at the same time
when I read that story,
you know like I
said, I've got kids,
and I can only just put myself
in your position and think,
my God, how would I feel?
-That me.
-That is you.
That's when you
were sick, isn't it?
Ah, there's one of you.
You're not sick
anymore, are you?
-No.
-Your eyes are good now,
-aren't they?
-Yes.
[eerie music]
[Luke] Okay, cool, all right.
You have a good day.
[Mark mumbles]
Thanks Mark, bye.
I was so drained
yesterday, mate.
I was so cooked after,
like the four
consultations that I did
yesterday were just...
I mean, two of them are
just fucking heart breaking.
Bit that I find tough is that
quite a lot of the people
that I speak to are actually,
there's a good chance
that they're gonna die.
And I think you need
to be really careful
what you say and how you say it
to a dying person
and their family
-Good girl.
-Good girl.
Looks like it's black, but
it's actually really green.
All right, Allymae,
did I give you that
little band-aid?
[Allymae] Yeah.
I'm gonna put this on your nose.
She might go back a little bit,
but she should be okay.
Good girl.
[Nick] Let's give her a
little bit of that CBD.
I think you should
give that to her
-Okay.
-And just put it
on your finger, put
it in on her gums.
Good girl, good girl.
Here you go, it's a good dose.
And I'll get you a
smaller tube of this
and we'll just start
giving it to her daily.
I think it'd be
really good for her.
Good girl, Manuka, come on.
So what we did then is
we applied the THC oil
directly onto the tumor.
The CBD, we gave it
probably twice as much
as what you'd give
a human for a dose.
But I mean, if you look
at the size of a horse
compared to the size of human,
that makes perfect sense.
The CBD is gonna work
exactly the same way
as it works in humans.
It would be good if you
can keep a diary of it
so we can and keep
photographing it
-so that we can--
-Yeah, yeah.
We can show the people
if it works or not.
-I'm pretty sure it will.
-Yeah, I've been
taking photos every day.
Yeah, good.
And you can actually
see a reduction
in the size of the lump itself.
-Already in five days?
-Yeah.
Just it's not a
massive difference,
-but yeah, just yeah.
-It's shrinking.
-A small amount, yeah.
-Yeah, cool.
Not gonna buck me off, are you?
[horse grunts]
[horse whinnies]
[calm music]
If he going us?
[Camera Man] I don't know.
They did clock the camera
before I saw the guy at all.
-They did what?
-Clock the camera.
So they might just be--
I'm not sure what that is, yeah.
What are we filming guys?
[Camera Man] A
nature documentary.
We can turn off
early if you'd like.
I'm just wondering
where that cop is
and if he's still behind us
and don't believe he is,
I think he's pulled off.
He's gone?
Yeah.
[camera man mumbles]
No, I think he's gone.
[Camera Man] I would just...
Whenever I see police
when I'm driving,
I get like a,
almost like a slight
hypoventilation and I feel,
I think, oh have I got
any medicine in the car?
I just notice right then
when a police car drove past,
I had a card that had
medical cannabis advisory
written on it and
if you get pulled up
and that's visually seen,
then there's due cause
to search the car.
I try and always remember
the police are very human,
we're all humans.
Everything's you know,
that they're not out on a
witch hunt particularly for me,
but it's hard to tell
my subconscious that.
[Camera Man] Are your
hand's shaking a bit?
They are shaking.
They were yes, my
hands were shaking
and now I'm getting everything
under control again.
[wind rustles]
[phone rings]
[Woman] It's like he's
got a bloody rubber band
around the bowel.
He can't physically eat
anymore without vomiting.
We have to wait two
an a half months
so he can actually
see a specialist.
It had turned to the size
of a fucking mandarin.
There's a tumor the
size of a mandarin
grown in a month?
[Woman] Yes.
Wow, I'm gonna make sure
that you get some CBD
to help him stay calm
and do some other things.
The THC is vaporizing
or smoking.
So lung induced, then
there's oral administration
and then there's actually
rectal administration.
You're going to get the
best outcome possible
if he can take it as a
suppository and orally as well.
Sugar, process meats, alcohol,
tobacco need to,
they need to see the
back of those ASAP.
[Woman] Yeah, yeah,
yeah, thank you.
-All right, see you later.
-I appreciate your help.
-My pleasure.
-Bye.
Hearing things like bacon
and coffee for breakfast
and cigarettes and all
that kind of stuff.
I need to be as encouraging
as I can with people
to really clean it up.
I starting using
cocaine really heavily
you know, like a gram a day,
that was just everyday
and that particular
drug has the capacity
to hollow you right out.
You know I think it an
enormous amount of motivation
and dedication to be a
full scale drug addict
on the level that I was.
We'd often party all night,
bottle of tequila, 10
pills, snort, whatever,
have an hour sleep or none at
all and then get into work,
and cook 50 different menu
items in an open kitchen
blazed out of our minds.
I just didn't stop.
I'd be in the
bathroom having lines,
I'd be under the
bench having lines,
I'd be at home having lines.
I'd wake up in the
middle of the night
and have lines and
go back to sleep.
Was a wrecking ball
for my relationship.
She worked with me and
ran the restaurant.
Cocaine helped us to really
toxify our relationship
to the point it
was just horrendous
and now I think the only way
we put up with each other
was by snorting the day away.
The idea of suicide
crept in somehow.
I realized that I simply was
never really afraid of death.
Death wasn't an issue
for me, fucking life was.
I scoured a liter of tequila
and I ate three grams of cocaine
and then I ate about 80 Valiums.
So I laid back and just
fell back into a void
and then I woke up
with my dad shaking me
and looking me in the face
and tears running down
his face and saying,
you know, he's like he just
looked at me and he said,
don't fucking go there.
[birds tweet]
[Luke whistles]
Having been a
pretty broken person
and then learning
how to fix myself
with the care and
support of others,
it was my duty to go and
give that to other people.
We've got these 10 foot high,
this vine and this
is the base of it,
the base of it here
and that's on my sons placenta
and I'm so stoked to see
that, that's so cool.
A lot of people plant a tree
on their child's placenta.
This vine's known as
the vine of the souls.
So in helping to saving my soul,
planning this vine on
my sons placenta here
in a place of healing and
magic for peoples of this land,
the indigenous peoples,
there's a lot of
symbolism in that for me
and this tree here has
survived against all the odds
and that's how I
see the human spirit
and I would like those
attributes for my son.
To have a great deal of
strength of character
and survival instinct
and to be tall and
strong in this life.
[Luke whistles]
[rain patters]
[thunder roars]
[phone rings]
[Nick] Hi, Angela, how
are you doing today?
[Angela] Hi, I'm
not too good today.
I'm a bit down in the dumps.
[Nick] Yeah, I'm
sorry to hear that.
Have you already
started undergoing
chemotherapy or radiation?
[Angela] This is my third week.
-Right.
-And then, sorry.
[Nick] Okay, yeah
I'm listening, go on.
[Angela] And then I'm
on vitamins one and two.
[Nick] Okay.
Then I'd like to introduce a
combination of THC and CBD.
[Angela] Thank you
very much for that.
You're welcome, darling.
All right, well,
we'll speak soon
and I'll email you tonight.
You just send me your email.
All right.
[phone rings]
Ted, you going?
[Ted] Yeah, good man.
So the CBD, you take it
two to three times a day
like a large rice
grain under the tongue?
[Ted] Yeah, I've only,
I can only do it
morning and night
'cause I can't take it to work
because I don't have you
know a fridge at work
or anything, so.
[Nick] Yeah, I have a feeling
it's gonna help you, mate.
[Ted] Yes.
Have a great day,
lots of love and
we'll speak soon.
I experimented with the
harder drugs at an early age.
You know, LSD and a bit
of speed here and there
in the late 80s.
I started using heroin
when I was my mid 20s.
Was pretty lucky
to survive that.
I spent I'd say maybe three
or four years off and on
using that stuff.
I had a couple of
really close calls.
I OD'd three times.
I was clinically dead twice.
And ambition sort of
pulled me out of that.
And when I moved to the States,
I sort of gave it all away
and left that sort of
part of my life behind me.
But I'm sort of glad that
I went through that now
because it's given me a
really good understanding
on addiction and how people
cope with giving up opiates.
This is my other mum.
We're gonna talk about
why you needed to see me.
[Mom] Lucky I've
got you for son.
The problem I have is here.
Just sort of tells the story
of what my poor little
backbone looks like.
[Nick] So you can see there's
some pretty serious stuff
going on with her spine.
[Man] They recommended
oxycodone, Endone and Targin,
which was quite a cocktail,
made me pretty ill.
I think the worst part of it
was that it put my
plumbing to sleep.
It was humiliating
to say the least.
I've always been a
pretty forthright,
pretty strong sort of a person.
So I was never used to having
people do things for me.
After 12 months on those drugs,
I was advised that if I
just stopped taking it,
it would be a little
bit difficult.
That was a big understatement.
It was horrendous.
It took me 10 days,
I was in cold sweats,
I was saturating my bed every
night, I had hallucinations.
But right now, I might
not even take that THC
because my pain gets bad if
I'm moving, if I'm bending,
Which you do a lot,
you're very active.
[Mom] Yeah, you were on
the phone to me everyday,
seeing if it was working
for me and it was working,
-I was up on my feet--
-How long did that take?
Do you remember?
Like from the time that you
took it to the pain stopping.
[Mom] The pain stopped
within about 15 minutes.
So I don't have to employ
somebody to push me around
in the wheelchair and
be embarrassed and
humiliated anymore
-and I'm not in pain.
-Yeah.
[Mom] And if you don't
know how the hell
you're gonna stop
the pain you're in,
that is pretty scary.
What about losing your supply?
-How does that make you feel?
-That is even scarier
and one of the reasons why
I don't want to be filmed,
I don't want my name mentioned,
I don't want anybody to know
where I live or who I am.
If it makes you feel any better,
I've buried a bunch of
it in the garden for you.
So if I do get taken away,
I'll just send you a letter
and tell you where it's buried.
[Mom] I feel tragically
sorry for people
who can't access it or
who've been indoctrinated
into thinking there's
something wrong with it.
And I was skeptical,
but I was in pain.
So thank you for giving me
the last year of my life back.
-My pleasure.
-'Cause it's pretty precious.
[calm music]
World needs people
like mum definitely.
So what I tend to do is
once I get my supply,
is put it in a syringe for
safekeeping with a stopper on it
and then I've just
put a drawing up
which is a blunt needle,
so it's not a sharp,
it's not gonna hurt you
and we're going to
give on your finger.
We're gonna give
a couple of drops.
You can do that finger, are you?
Yeah and then
that'll just come out
drop by drop so I can monitor
how much he's getting.
-Ohh.
-Whoops.
There you go, four drops.
That's a lot, yeah.
And he's gonna rub that under,
in the sides of his mouth
and he'll hate the taste.
He'll screw that up.
-It's not great, is it?
-No.
It's one of the less
pleasant things.
[Sandy] Their diagnosis
was stage four.
-Yeah, okay.
-Yeah.
When Sandy asked, so what
are we talking, years?
And she said, no, months,
and I've sort of gone, shit.
It was like a big
kick in the guts.
So we took three days
just to digest it.
And then it was, for me,
it was full on let's research
the fuck out of this.
I need to know, you know?
And I didn't care whether
it was conventional or not.
You wondered what would work,
-what would save him?
-I wanted to know,
-yeah, yeah.
-So we just threw
everything at it.
[Sandy] Did a lot of
research on dosing
and it's said to start
with one drop for four days
-and then go to two drops--
-start low, go slow.
Yeah, the start low, go slow.
And I said, "Sorry, fuck
the go slow process.
You going to a mil
and a half today."
We just went, boom.
And what had happened
when you got those scans?
Left side around into here
had gone from 18 or 20 tumors
down to less than five.
Okay, significantly.
How did that feel being a nurse?
I have asked every
oncologist that we've been to
and I've asked GPS,
can we get a script,
can we get a script?
No, sorry, I don't feel
comfortable doing that.
It's legal for chemotherapy
side effects, you know?
-So for nausea, vomiting,
-That's right.
But it's not for treatment.
I did actually say to
the radiation oncologist
can I have a script?
And she said, "No, no well
you don't fit in the category,
you haven't got cancer anymore."
Now that you technically
do have cancer again,
sorry to bring it up
again, but what's,
what would be the outlook then?
It's still the same,
they don't do it.
Because you're not
undergoing chemo.
He wouldn't be going
undergoing chemo.
And we dropped down
to maintenance dosing,
which was really quite minimal
'cause again, you
know, finances really--
This is a big issue,
-isn't it?
-yeah,
-it's expensive.
-It's expensive on that note,
I also wanted to donate a
bunch of oils to you guys
so that you can take on a,
you know a bit more of
a full scale approach.
I understand how difficult
it gets for people
to service this
kind of thing, so.
I don't feel like,
I'm absolutely wanting
and welcoming and
appealing for assistance,
of better trained
professionals to step in
and be able to
help these people.
And at the moment, I
feel like we're a bit
of a one-stop shop
for this issue
and this issue shouldn't
be a one-stop shop.
You need counselors,
you need prescribers,
you need people then
that dispense it,
you need people that grow it,
you need people
in manufacture it.
You need so many different
people that I'm not,
and I don't know if
anyone's truly equipped
to deal with speaking
to endless cases
of people that can't
get what they need
and have those really
difficult decisions to face.
I just, you know, part
of me is a voice in my,
an inner voice that says,
one you're doing
really wonderful work
and another voice that
says, well, I mean,
I'm not the guy for the job.
[phone rings]
I'm just giving in
'cause fucking hell.
Hey darling, how you doing?
[woman] Still just in pain
'cause I don't have
anything to sort of
help me get through the day.
I'm gonna make sure that you
get some things, that's okay.
I hate hearing you like this.
We'll get things
done in the morning.
[Woman] I'm sorry, I don't
meant to like bother you
on a weekend and stuff,
but I'm just like really,
really struggling.
Are any of the pharmaceutical
meds doing anything to help?
You know, what are you taking
-of those at the moment?
-Like Endone a little bit
but I can't just
keep taking opioids.
So that's why like I'm
considering hysterectomy
because nothing else is helping.
Do you feel like
the oils have had
had any significant
benefit to you?
-Like, even in the short-term?
-Oh huge.
Helps with my anxiety,
helps with my heart racing,
helps me sleep.
As far as a hysterectomy goes,
I mean you're aware of
what that means for your
-around?
-Well it means
we can't have kids and I'm 23.
It means you can't, yeah.
I mean that's a huge choice
for a 23 year old to make.
I mean just for me to feel
that you're saying that,
if that and that means
you can't have kids,
I mean, that brings
up a lot for me,
let alone what it
must bring up for you.
[Woman] Yeah.
Look, I need to get to a point
where you just don't
know what else to do.
Yeah.
So I don't have the words really
to actually express
how that decision
that you're looking at
makes me feel and...
And I hope you find
strength wherever you can.
-Talk to you soon, bye.
-All right,
we'll talk tomorrow.
-See you, Luke.
-Okay.
[phone clanks]
All right.
[indicator flicks]
[car rumbles]
Anyway, anyway.
Can we cut for a tick?
Can we just, just for a
tick, is that all right?
I just, just...
[man bangs]
[man grunts]
With Aikido, you can
do it physically,
just basically as a technique
or you can unify mind and body
and use that person's
power and energy.
For that, you've gotta
be centered yourself.
You don't need
physical strength.
You can do all kinds of things
that don't require
physical strength.
So there's a whole bunch
of tests that we do.
We use an arrow, so here.
So this is very daunting
and we're gonna
break this arrow.
So from there,
unify mind and body,
you relax, you move forward.
[arrow snaps]
Looks easy, it is.
But if you don't get
taught how to move properly
and use your energy properly,
this can be a bit tricky.
So don't try it at home.
I had a red spot on my forehead
which I couldn't get rid of.
So I went to my GP,
he did a biopsy,
and it came back as skin cancer.
If you cut into cancers,
quite often it seeds
into your blood supply
and it did, it went
into my left nymph node
and they want to cut me
open from here to here,
across here, down
here and across here,
pull all the skin back
and you'll be deformed.
I said, "Okay, I
don't wanna do that.
I want to try other things."
And that little one
grew to a monster.
Thought that's strange,
so I went into the bathroom,
peeled the bandage off
and I was bleeding out
from a carotid artery.
So it was raised
to an emergency.
They put a torch into the hole,
they said, "We can actually
see the carotid artery.
It's completely diseased,
we can't even operate."
Said, "How long have I got?"
they said, "Minutes to hours."
Any blood pressure
increase or a laugh
or a cough or a movement
or the way that it's going,
it's gonna burst out you're
just going to bleed out.
I had, at that stage, been
examined by nine oncologists
and all said the same thing.
You know, you're not
gonna survive this,
you're gonna die.
[bell dings]
But I survived that night.
Obviously I couldn't do Aikido,
I could hardly move properly.
But I practiced some of
the breathing and mind,
the meditation techniques.
My last resort was to look
at medicinal cannabis.
If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.
So you know, I wasn't
too concerned personally
about the legality status of it.
The doctor came out and said,
"Yeah, well, there it looks
a lot better than the
last time I saw it,
but there's a huge
hole, Michael.
That's going to take
three months to close up."
But in one month,
that hole closed up.
Using CBD and THC which was
miraculous to the nurses
and to the doctor, they
weren't expecting that.
So my GP saw the
pictures and he said,
"I bumped into your oncologist
and showed him the pictures.
The oncologist
never said a word.
He just looked at it,
shut up and walked away."
That's unfortunate because
it's about saving human life.
And in suffering,
open your mindset up
to what else is out there.
Luke saw the wound
and saw the reduction,
you know, he was very excited
because it helps people
and helped me.
People wanted to
know how I was fixed.
So I told them about it.
Luke said, "Do you want
to be an advocate?"
I said, "Yeah, I want
people to get better."
Now I know about helping
people and dosing it correctly.
So it gave me purpose.
Hey come on in.
-Good to see you.
-You too, man.
I do have the odd
moment of real concern
that the stress of
what you're doing
may translate into a
resurgence of your,
of your condition.
In this hand I hold
the beautiful things that
this has brought to my life,
that I'll never forget
and will always do
in some way, shape or form,
whether in the
service or another.
And in the hand to
hold the reality
of the impact that
it's had on my health.
And my concern for
you is that I wonder
if you're putting
aside your life
in order to keep
doing this for others.
And I just want you to know,
I love what you're doing.
-Thank you.
-And I also love you enough
that if you said to me, I
feel like I need to stop this
for my own wellbeing,
that I would support you in that
as all the people supported me.
I took 2000 patients
names out of my phone
that had direct access to me
and I gave them to
all of these people.
And now the patients
are getting better care.
It got to a critical
mass, you know, recently.
And then I think I
don't have a life.
There's people for some reason,
planning badly, running out
of product on the weekend,
urgently need it and you
don't get any time off,
at night or during the
day and things like that.
And you're dealing with people,
you've gotta give them
attention and your energy.
And by the end of the
day, you're a bit weary.
And then you get calls
and you get texts
and you need to respond.
So you feel yourself
forcing to respond.
And I know that if I
look at my phone now,
there'll be six to
10 texts, you know?
And that's gotta
change, you know,
'cause I'm not 100% yet.
I had no future,
I was depressed and anxious
and I didn't know how I was
gonna look after myself.
You helped me and supported
me through all that.
Really is true and wonderful.
-Thank you.
-I'm very touched
that you'd say that.
[calm music]
[car rumbles]
How you doing?
Congratulations.
Leave my fucking
hair alone, mate.
Come here.
How's the baby?
-Baby's good, baby's good.
-Yeah?
Is he like, come
back into shape?
-Yeah.
-Dude was he squashed?
His head looked
like a little alien.
-Full on, isn't it?
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-You had some sleep?
-Yeah.
Straight up and turn right.
I lost two patients last week.
-Really?
-Left here.
They were, you know, still
lucid and still comfortable
and one in particular managed
to eat three meals a
day for his last week
and he hadn't eaten
-for months before then.
-Wow.
So just for the fact that
he was able to enjoy,
you know some meals
-before he died.
-Awesome, last meals.
It's huge, isn't it?
-Hello.
-Hey Allymae.
Hello Manuka.
-Look at that.
-Yeah.
-Just a little lump.
-It's slightly there but--
[Nick] I'd still
kept putting it on.
-Is it that good?
-From that massive lump
that it was sticking
right out from her nose.
The treatment time was
about six to eight weeks,
-wasn't it?
-Yeah.
See to me, it doesn't
feel like there's any,
it's like if I go
like that, right?
-Yeah, yup.
-That's the size of
maybe half a pea in there.
And so it would be interesting
to just keep putting
some on there
-Yeah, okay.
-and see if that
just disappear completely, hey?
[lively music]
Lately, I'm so impressed
with what's happened, hey.
-Good girl.
-Beautiful girl.
-Hey Luke.
-How are you?
We got some photos. I want to
have a look at them with you
-of last time
-Okay, yeah.
when we first started and let's
have a look at them together
and see if we're
imagining things.
Well here especially,
that's all gone down.
[Luke] Yeah, that whole,
the whole front part of it.
And now it's actually
flattened off.
There's been a
significant reduction,
at least on the front
half of the tumor
and that whole part
there that's protruding,
that's all gone.
There's no pressure or anything,
but if we can wrap
this up in 15 minutes,
everyone will be happy.
-There, see, no pressure,
-Yeah, no pressure
-whatsoever.
-don't be anxious.
It's been a couple of months
since we saw you last.
We implemented a
regimen of using oils.
What's happened for you?
Ah mate, what hasn't happened?
Since starting on the oils,
I've stopped taking the vast
majority of my medication.
I'm not smoking anymore.
[Luke] You look a lot
clearer in your face.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, I mean between the
oils and my girlfriend, yeah.
Like things are
really good, man.
If we go to the doctor,
there might be some
other reason why he is.
Absolutely, you know,
I think we need to
get blood tests.
I think we need to
explore all the options,
put them together and
find a way forward.
How do you feel about that?
Yeah, I'm all for it.
You all for it?
I really appreciate
what you're doing.
-Thanks.
-Yeah.
-All right, cheers.
-Thank you very much.
It's been roughly two months
since we first started him off
and I'm really happy
he's decided to accept
outside professional help.
The kind of which I can't give.
I'm so happy about that.
[calm music]
Come on mate, come on bro.
Bring it in.
Thanks for everything, man.
I had to go through nine
sessions of chemotherapy.
During that, I took
the medicinal cannabis,
which took away a
lot of the nausea,
gave me my appetite,
helped me sleep.
Going in for a little paddle?
Austin didn't even
know I surfed.
I haven't surfed for a while.
Well, I already knew
what I was up for
'cause I went through
testicular cancer when I was 22
and I knew I needed
something else
to help me through this stage.
Yeah, amazing to say the least.
Your dealer is your healer.
That's right.
[both men laugh]
I'm in remission now.
At the same time, I'm
not listening to doctors
with their, you know,
you're in remission,
just go on about your life.
Still on the medicinal cannabis,
slowly taking my way off that.
[Nick] Being
diagnosed with cancer,
if it doesn't kill you, it'll
completely change your life.
[Austin] I feel like
if anything, I've
become super human.
[waves crash]
I feel like a
criminal if I stopped.
If I was to turn my
phone off tomorrow,
so many people would
be in a real spot.
You know this work that we
do needs to be continued.
And if we can't continue it,
then please provide us
with people that can.
[lively music]
I really hope what I'm doing
and the things I'm talking about
are taken in the spirit
that they're meant.
What we're trying
to do is a positive,
good thing and is helping
and please don't lock me
up or anyone that I know.
I rejected life at one place,
I didn't wanna be in it
and every single day, I get
this massive rush of gratitude
at some point that I'm alive
and this is my reminder today.
[footsteps clank]
[phone rings]
-Hey, Nicholas.
-Yeah, hi there.
We've been playing
phone tag all day.
How's your partner doing?
[Man] Yeah, look you know
is just that arthritis.
[many people speaking
at the same time]
[calm music]
[phone rings]
[Nick] Sounds fucking horrible.
So your body's full
of inflamation, yeah?
[Luke] He said the doctor
said that he wasn't terminal.
[Woman] No one survived.
[Luke] All right, take care.
[slow intense music]
[thunder claps]
Yeah, I've been asked to
contact this young guy.
We're gonna get his exact age
and everything as we talk,
it's just part of the
data gathering process,
but I think he's 18.
This guy is 18 and
he's got bowel cancer
and he's had a bowel resection.
So for...
[phone rings]
Do you mind if I just
grab this phone call?
Kid going wild in there.
[kid cheerfully squeals]
Hello, it's Luke here.
[Tara] Hello Luke, this is Tara.
I assume that you're calling me
looking for some
kind of assistance
-related to the work that I do
-yeah.
that George has
probably told you about.
-I need to tell her.
-well, well my mum's been,
she's been given just a
little bit of time to live.
Can I, I just wanna,
you've caught me at a at
a really interesting time.
I'm making a documentary
about the difficulties
that people are facing
accessing medical cannabis
and why they have to come
and seek people like us out
and just the guys are
actually filming me right now.
[intense music]
Can I proceed to have
a chat with you now
while they're filming me?
How do you feel about that?
Okay, so I'll just grab some
notes here if you don't mind.
[Tara] We just
found out yesterday.
So if I start crying, then...
-It's okay.
-Yeah.
She's pretty young,
she's only 65.
I heard that there's
a cannabis oil
that is cancer-fighting
and then there's
another one as well.
I dunno the differences.
With the oils that we have,
be it CBD or THC
or a blend of both.
I need to let you
know that THC itself
can have some really
strong psychoactive effects
and some people find
that really unpleasant.
So I'm gonna ask that
we stay in touch.
[Tara] Well my only
like huge worry
is that she's in a
nursing home, like,
I'm just worried like if they
do a blood test or something,
It's gonna come back on us.
Are we going against the law?
Like I don't want to
go to jail, you know?
You could go through a process
called the Special
Access Scheme.
It does prove very difficult
for a lot of people
to access that.
That's why I exist.
Some people have often passed
away waiting for approval.
I can't promise you and I
think it would be really bad,
a duty of care for me to
do so is to promise you
that we can cure her cancer.
What I have seen is people's
cancers go into remission.
We've certainly had
doctors and oncologists say
that they've never
seen results like this.
[Tara] And how soon do you think
we can get things from you?
It'll be a matter of days.
[Tara] Okay, thank you so much.
-Okay, all right.
-All right, all right.
Okay, thanks very much.
-Thank you, bye.
-Okay.
[slow dramatic music]
[crickets chirp]
[phone rings]
It's my kid, hang on one second.
Hey darling.
[Wild Rose] Hi dad.
How are you, sweetheart?
[Wild Rose] I'm good, thank you.
Look, we started making
the documentary today.
-Hi.
-Hi.
This is Wild Rose. What
does Wild Rose think of
the hemp and the
cannabis revolution?
I think that it's
a really good idea
and that the government
is not very smart
for taking it away.
Hey, I'll give you a call.
Let's talk after school.
-Okay, bye.
-Have a great day.
-Bye.
-Bye.
I get up at about 06:00, 06:30,
check my emails, check my texts.
Normally there's at least
three or four messages
from people that need help.
It's just so I can keep
track of who's got what.
[Camera Man] How
many names in there?
[Nick] Most of them
are either dying
or they've been told
they're gonna die
or they're in serious pain.
They can't handle
the opiates anymore.
And they've all been reading
about medicinal cannabis
and how it can help them.
If I just put my finger
in, he'll strike and bite
onto the end of it.
So I've gotta be
quicker than him
and let him know that
I'm the alpha creature
and then he'll submit.
There we go, now he knows.
Yeah, there we go.
He has submitted.
Give him a pat, give him a pat.
I sold my house and took a
year off to start this service.
I gave away medicine
completely free for a year.
Get off, get off.
[Luke] Get off?
Quickly the service
grew to hundreds
and then thousands of people
and that meant that
I didn't really have
a day off for years.
Dude, come on now, serious?
Can I have it now?
I want to pet it.
[Luke] There was a lot of
tension in our household.
My partner wore some
of the sideways effects
of not being able to process
that fully and myself.
[Little Boy] Is that all done?
-[Luke] Is what all done?
-Are you all done?
I'm not all done, but
you can come out with me
and we'll feed the
goats together, okay?
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
I didn't really have
a day off for years.
I had no nine to
five boundaries.
Let's go, mate, this way.
Where are you taking us?
It could start as early
as between five and eight
in the morning and it would
finish most nights, 10 or 11.
Here they come.
Those are work hours
that I got used to
in the hospitality industry
when I owned multiple
hospitality ventures.
My boy wasn't getting the
time with me that he deserved.
So as he started to become
more interested in me,
I've made the changes necessary.
That's a 10 mil tube of CBD oil.
It's a pure hemp,
whole plant extract.
10 mils of that
comes in and around 260, $280.
I've got a pretty good
support network around me.
I've got a very loving and
caring partner who I confide in.
I've got three beautiful
daughters, my ex-wives,
and a little boy
about to be born.
But yeah, look,
there's highs and lows.
I got a text from
a woman yesterday
who's got a little kid
that's got epilepsy
and you know, they've been going
through years and
years of seizures
and one tube of that has
completely changed their life.
At the same time, I've
had to say goodbye
to quite a few patients.
You know, and you definitely
build up a rapport
with them on the phone.
I think it's just
made me stronger
and I'm a pretty tough
guy most of the time, yup.
I got an email
about two weeks ago
from a gentleman that
was referred to me.
I explained to him the process
and costs that were involved
and he said to me, "I can't
afford anything like that.
I don't really have much money."
And I said, "I'm really
sorry to hear that."
I said, "Look, can you
send me a photo of yourself
and the tumor so we
can have a look at it?"
So he sent me a photo
and that's the photo.
When I saw that,
my heart just sank.
How can this guy walk around
feeling like that and
looking like that?
I mean, could you imagine
walking into a shop or,
you know looking at your
partner or your family
having this horrible growth
on the side of your head?
So I forwarded that onto Luke.
Good day, see you later.
-Hey Lukie.
-How are you, man?
-Good.
-I've got one I've got one
for topical and
one for internal.
-Okay.
-I don't wanna actually
do the application.
I give people suggestions
and then they decide
what to do with it.
[Nick] Yeah, I think
that's a really good idea.
Okay, well do you wanna
give me a call then
when you're just coming
past the cop shop?
[Nick] All right, see you soon.
I started hairdressing
when I was 15
and then embarked on a
pretty successful career
as a freelance hairstylist
and makeup artist.
But compared to what I do now,
it wasn't really fulfilling.
I felt this calling to get
out there and help people.
[slow intense music]
[Woman] If I put it up here,
it might go in his ear.
[Nick] Yeah, no, you
don't want it running off.
It's a precious and
expensive medicine, so.
[Woman] Just tell
me if it hurts.
It doesn't hurt.
They're saying there's
no nerve endings
on the tumor.
[Nick] So it's taken you a
couple of years to find us?
Yeah because it's an
unsightly looking thing,
I don't go out during the day.
But if I do go anywhere,
it's in the car
and I usually have
a bandage over it
that I tape on.
And yeah.
So it's like the house
becomes like a prison for me.
[Woman] It does bleed
quite profusely.
I don't know if he knocks it
or whatever, but like quite
-a substantial amount of blood
-yeah, sometimes I pick
-at it and it bleeds.
-will come out.
That's the only time it bleeds.
-It's my fault.
-When's your mum back?
[Woman] 15th I think.
-14th.
-14th?
Well, I haven't seen a doctor
for a couple of years now.
Yeah, the main one
was the oncologist.
It was straight into
hospital, chop it off.
He wouldn't even look
at the information
I took out there about
other possible treatments.
It was a terrible
experience going up there.
The room was just
packed with people,
mainly older people and yeah,
they just all go
through the burn,
poison or cut procedure.
I understand and respect
that you said that.
At this point, you're
not open to it.
-Look, but if you do,
-Yeah?
I guess it would be
valuable to find a doctor.
I have seen good results across
a broad spectrum of therapy.
So just so you know that
there are those things
-available to you.
-Okay.
I'm gonna do this.
Yeah, exactly.
Beautiful, perfect.
So what we'd ask of
you is to keep a diary
about the effects
that you are feeling
and we just monitor
you as we go along.
Okay, thanks so
much for having us.
Yes, thank you.
-Thanks, Luke.
-Really appreciate it.
-Yeah, thanks Nick.
-Your welcome.
-Lovely to meet you.
-No fuss.
-Thanks fellas.
-You're welcome.
That's heavy.
You did that really well.
Oh, what's that fucking smell?
-What is that?
-It's foul.
Oh, is that me or you?
Tell me it's you, tell
me it's you not me.
Yes, it's you.
[dramatic music]
I have to remain really neutral
about the potential health
outcomes that can happen here.
I don't get myself excited.
As you see, I'll try
and be really clear
about what the boundaries are
because otherwise I'm carrying
this person's excitement
in my own being and hoping
this amount of hope, you know?
And then I know so many
people that have died now.
[water runs]
Hi, how you doing?
Good, good.
This is a strategic
meeting in support
of compassionate access schemes
for medical cannabis patients
to be able to care
for themselves.
We've got lawyers and doctors,
we've got people
like us, providers.
So I'm looking forward to
seeing what comes out of this.
It's an exciting meeting because
there's been a lot of talk
and not a lot of action
and we're all sick of it.
So what I've got here is a
summary of how you as a patient
can get access to
medicinal cannabis
in other jurisdictions
around the world.
Because there are so
few steps in this,
I actually had room
to put in the flags,
the national flags as well.
Okay, Lucy, can you
explain in 30 seconds
what we have to do in Australia?
[audience laughs]
It took me a while
to get that open.
I need someone maybe to hold
-the bottom of it.
-Sure.
[Man] So these are the steps
required in Australia for a
patient and a GP to collaborate
to access medicinal cannabis
[Man] Probably 40
new inquiries a day,
about 1000 a month.
We were at that point in time,
getting hundreds
of inquiries a day.
Everyone's phones ringing
with these desperately
confused patients.
Clearly patients need to be able
to afford the medicine that
they're being prescribed.
There's already a
significant cost barrier
for people approaching us.
They actually say that
medicinal cannabis
has to be last line therapy.
The whole system
contradicts itself
in terms of who's
getting access.
We provide it for free, we've
never turned anyone away.
My patient with cancer
has to be on the opiates.
And only when that fails,
why not medicinal
cannabis being first-line?
When legal doesn't
mean available,
-then illegal means nothing.
-Absolutely.
2018 is gonna be a scrappy year.
There's been a lot of voyeurism,
people standing on the edges
waiting to get involved
when it's convenient.
That's probably why
we're at where we're at,
which is nowhere.
[dramatic music]
The room where my mentor died
was where that end
light is still on there.
He had cancer, but he taught
a lot of us how to live.
The promise that I
actively made to him
was that I will always
give part of my life
in loving service to
other beings around me
and you know so
help me if I don't.
And he said, "No worries.
I'm absolutely gonna
hold you to that."
I wanna read out some
of the texts that I got
in the last few days.
Some of the emails that I
got in the last few days
and just try and help people,
to see what it would be like
to receive this every
day of your life.
One after the other, after
the other, after the other.
You know, I've been told,
we shouldn't this
an emotional issue,
we should be very
reasonable about it
and always be diplomatic.
Well fuck, really?
[wood clanks]
[fire crackles]
[food sizzles]
What have we got, buddy?
We've got cherry tomatoes,
capers, onions, chili, garlic,
olive oil, lemon zest
And that is going to be mixed
with some smoked trout
and some fresh parsley
and a little tickle.
I mean, there's a reason why
we've been going this long.
It's not because of me,
it's because of Luke.
I do get pretty hectic,
don't I at times?
Yeah, he does get hectic
but I mean, what we do
is pretty stressful too.
You know, there's a lot of,
there's a lot of stress
involved, you know?
Basically what we've
done is we've taken on
a responsibility now, a
responsibility of care,
-of a duty of care.
-A duty of care.
-A Real duty of care.
-And it's, you know,
it's probably in the tens
of thousands of people.
So I suppose that's pretty
incriminating that comment,
-but it's true.
-Well that's between us
and the organizations that
we directly relate with.
Yeah, it's not just us,
but you know, it's
you know, it's yeah.
There's a large network now.
[Camera Man] With
you all cautious,
what are some frustrations
for you with Nick?
There's an element of caution
that I sometimes have felt Nick
wasn't fully aware of, what
I would call carelessness,
but he's really just an
enthusiasm to normalize this
into something
that's good and okay.
The way that I communicate
with patients is all,
I'm pretty open about it at all.
That's amazing.
-Yeah--
-Restaurant quality?
Oh yeah.
Lukie, what do you
think is gonna happen?
What do you thinks gonna happen
when we finished
making this film?
It's gonna go to cinema,
it's gonna go to TV,
people are gonna watch it.
Local police stations
are gonna see it.
What's gonna happen?
Well thanks for bringing up
the terrifying potential
of this film, mate.
Should we paint our
cars like camouflage
so they can't see us
when we drive around?
I questioned the wisdom
of doing this film
when we may be on the cusp of,
I mean, it's kinda
like doing a story
on how bad East Germany
is a month before
the Berlin Wall fell.
Like in myself, I'm
sitting here thinking,
all right, why the fuck
are we doing this again?
Okay, all right.
Why it is is because if
people could access this stuff
in a safe, legal and
preferably affordable manner,
they really gonna
come and hunt us down
on the other side
of the country?
Rubbish, they gonna
go to their doctor,
they're gonna get a script,
they're gonna go
and get the stuff.
Like for me, I'm not
attacking the police
or the politicians.
I know I think the
real problem lies in
far larger business interests
that set the game here
and set the rules and
that the players in it,
we can easily blame them.
Ah, it's the cops or
it's this or it's that.
I think that's rubbish.
I think that they're as much a,
a symptom of a problem as we are
a symptom of a problem as well.
Look man, I was just
born and bred in nature
and when I come to a
big city like this,
I just don't know
how people do it.
I reckon that they
probably think the same
about where I live
and we all just get used
to whatever we're given,
but look at it, there's like
20, 30 stories of people
just stacked up on
top of each other.
And we're just getting green,
we're getting green lights
all the way through here.
I think the universe is telling
us that we're onto something
with a name for this
documentary, "Green Light".
[rain drops clank]
It's fucking pissing down.
If there's anything
that's too incriminating,
I've got a really tight time.
I'm just really stoked
that you've allowed me
to come and have
a chat with you.
Are they fucking
recording already, bro?
-That's all right, okay.
-Yeah.
My physical medical condition,
it's a degenerative
bone condition, genetic.
So I was born supposedly
with you know,
-multiple fractures, yeah.
-Multiple fractures
-from the birthing process?
-Yeah.
All right and do you remember
from when you're really young?
Yeah, yeah, just
always breaking bones.
You know on my
chair the other day,
just like tipped
over out of nowhere
and I knocked my head
and in that split second,
I was like, okay, am I
gonna be able to walk again?
[Luke laughs]
Am I gonna you know, have
to go to get an ambulance?
-Did anything break?
-Nah,
like a couple of ribs,
but no breaks, just fractures.
Like it happens all the time.
There's like lots of reasons
why people look at me.
Well, there's only one reason
it's cause I'm different.
They'll take a second glance
and can be a bit
preserving at times.
-That's all.
-Sure.
So I get a little bit of
social anxiety, if you will
and I've, yeah.
I've been diagnosed with PTSD
and all that sort
of charge as well.
-Wow.
-Yeah.
Basically I keep
a packet of Endone
which is oxycodone around.
Lyrica and Endone and Temazepam.
They're effective in what they
target and what they treat,
but you pay a toll for them.
-You know?
-Okay.
So I always feel like
I've just got cotton wool
wrapped around my brain.
I've given you some CBD oil.
I hope that you will be able
to put aside other things
to a large degree
and only use them when
absolutely necessary.
Yeah, that's my hope too, man.
Don't let yourself
get pushed around.
[both men chuckle]
[calm music]
[Nick] Yeah, no,
you woke up my wife.
She's pretty upset.
-Anyway, sorry about that.
-No, I'm sorry about that.
So you've got three,
you've got three
tubes there, right?
-You've got three syringes?
-Yup.
The large one is the CBD.
-Yup.
-Okay, which is the
non-psychoactive cannabis oil.
The CBD, I'd suggest that you
take that two times a day.
[Man] That's what I
needed tonight last night.
-Yup, yup.
-Day and night, what to do.
Okay, you can also
vaporize that.
So if you want vaporizer,
I can send it up to you.
[Man] That's what I'm saying.
This is a trial only
based on [man mumbles]
and they're the best
in our community.
-Okay, great.
-But they saved my life,
-I shouldn't be here.
-Okay.
[Man] Technically, I should've
been gone seven years ago.
Hey mate, I've
actually gotta go.
I've got two other
appointments that are booked
and I've gotta
talk to right now.
-Yup.
-Just...
Spend a couple of days
on it, see how you feel,
and give me a call back
in a couple of days
and just give me
a bit of a rundown
on how they're working for you.
[Man] Please don't give up.
And also unless anybody
or anything goes wrong,
your wife's got
the phone number,
please ring me because
I will ring everybody.
And they know even if
need be to get you out,
so I can break my fucking um,
what do you call
when you get old?
My pension to try
to get you out.
Oh, that's very sweet, mate.
Thanks, I hope it
never gets to that.
No, but I'm just saying
if some fucking low life
decides to be a
shit in your area,
we're there for you,
-if you know what I mean?
-Thanks mate.
Yep, thank you very much.
-Bye.
-Okay, bye mate.
I mean I feel for him.
You know, he got run
over by a postal truck.
You know, he was
a champion sailor,
active member of his
community and he,
he got run down.
So he's a paraplegic
but still has all
the nerve endings
and still feels all the pain.
Definitely a lot better for
you than taking opiates.
Right, I've gotta
make another call.
[Camera Man] Would you mind
if we just keep rolling?
Yeah, no, go for it.
Man, it's like this, hey...
Hey, it's like this
everyday, mate.
[calm music]
All right, give us a
call back, thanks man.
-Is this good?
-Which way do you
wanna go though,
should we take her up
through the mountains?
Yeah, the back way or?
Well there'll be definitely
no cops if we go the back way.
[eerie music]
[Nick] Yeah, my air
con kind of works
and then it doesn't work.
So just give it a minute,
it should kick in again.
Fucking hell.
I think our families
are really concerned.
I know they are, both our
partners are concerned.
I mean you know,
they both love us,
they both believe
in what we're doing
but at the same time, you know,
we've both got young children.
You know, I've got three
beautiful daughters
and they all need me.
And a baby on the way
and you know there's
no way that my partner
wants to raise a baby
whilst I'm incarcerated.
I mean that thought's fucked.
Look at that, mate, I
told you we'd make it here
if you just go that way.
[Nick] I've got a lot
going on in my head, mate.
-Huh?
-I've got a lot
going on in my head.
I've got fucking four
different conversations
going on at once.
I've got fucking
three sick people
trying to get hold of me,
I'm trying to organize this,
pull off a fucking interview.
Well, I get you are.
Just put them aside,
I've got fucking all
those people as well.
All the dying, I get it,
but you gotta put 'em aside.
[eerie music]
-Are we gonna have oil?
-No.
-Are you gonna take it?
-No.
Okay, turn around.
-Yum.
-Good job.
You love your oil, don't you?
More.
You want more?
Can I give you the
last little bit?
-Good job.
-Awe, mate.
Thank you.
-All done, thank you, Hunter.
-A pretty good effort, mate.
Hi, Danielle, your
friend posted an article
on your son on my CBD page
on Facebook and brought your
son's story to my attention.
I supply people with
CBD and THC oils
and if this is something
that you've considered,
I'd be happy to help you.
I suggest you speak
to your doctors first
and see what they say.
Please be reassured that we have
the best quality organic oils.
Thanks, Nicholas.
And then your response was,
"Nicholas, thank you
for your message.
We're seven months
into my son's treatment
and his tumors are getting worse
and are now desperately
looking for other options
to combat this, so I'm
definitely interested in this.
We have an appointment next
week with Hunter's oncologist
and we'll find out
what they suggest.
Thank you so much."
I put my hope into the oil but,
you know, what else can you do?
Your child's on chemo
and it literally
was our last resort.
So if it didn't
work, it didn't work.
What happened with
the tumors growth?
We had a terrible
result in his MRI,
has tumors were growing
at an exponential rate.
His oil was started, his next
MRI, his tumor had shrunk.
And the MRI a month later,
his tumors were
almost almost gone.
You wouldn't say he was
even going through chemo
because he was just that normal.
After the chemo cycle,
we kept him on the oil,
our oncologist said,
"Keep him on for a year,
take him off, see what happens."
We weaned him off the oils
and he had his next MRI
and tumors had
started growing back.
So we put him straight
back onto the oil.
Three weeks later,
he had another MRI
and his MRI was clear.
You can't tell me that
the oil hasn't done that.
What was the worst
case scenario?
Hunters eyes would
have been removed,
-both of them.
-Right.
I mean, we had a checkup
with his oncologists
a few weeks ago.
He said, "If somebody
had given him a bet
for a million dollars
to say Hunter would
be where he is today,
he wouldn't have taken that."
Are you planning on continuing
taking the cannabis oils?
If we have to sell houses
and cars and we'll do that.
Let's let them not get to that.
Yeah, let's not.
You just need a bigger garden
and we can show you
how to make your own.
It takes courage
to break the law
and to give your child,
you're very, very young child
-an illicit substance.
-Yeah.
I mean, you took a punt on me.
And I'm glad I did.
Yeah, well I mean
you could have also
just reported me straight to
the police as well saying,
there's this guy
stalking me on Facebook
trying to sell me pot
'cause you know, I did feel
a bit weird about that,
but at the same time
when I read that story,
you know like I
said, I've got kids,
and I can only just put myself
in your position and think,
my God, how would I feel?
-That me.
-That is you.
That's when you
were sick, isn't it?
Ah, there's one of you.
You're not sick
anymore, are you?
-No.
-Your eyes are good now,
-aren't they?
-Yes.
[eerie music]
[Luke] Okay, cool, all right.
You have a good day.
[Mark mumbles]
Thanks Mark, bye.
I was so drained
yesterday, mate.
I was so cooked after,
like the four
consultations that I did
yesterday were just...
I mean, two of them are
just fucking heart breaking.
Bit that I find tough is that
quite a lot of the people
that I speak to are actually,
there's a good chance
that they're gonna die.
And I think you need
to be really careful
what you say and how you say it
to a dying person
and their family
-Good girl.
-Good girl.
Looks like it's black, but
it's actually really green.
All right, Allymae,
did I give you that
little band-aid?
[Allymae] Yeah.
I'm gonna put this on your nose.
She might go back a little bit,
but she should be okay.
Good girl.
[Nick] Let's give her a
little bit of that CBD.
I think you should
give that to her
-Okay.
-And just put it
on your finger, put
it in on her gums.
Good girl, good girl.
Here you go, it's a good dose.
And I'll get you a
smaller tube of this
and we'll just start
giving it to her daily.
I think it'd be
really good for her.
Good girl, Manuka, come on.
So what we did then is
we applied the THC oil
directly onto the tumor.
The CBD, we gave it
probably twice as much
as what you'd give
a human for a dose.
But I mean, if you look
at the size of a horse
compared to the size of human,
that makes perfect sense.
The CBD is gonna work
exactly the same way
as it works in humans.
It would be good if you
can keep a diary of it
so we can and keep
photographing it
-so that we can--
-Yeah, yeah.
We can show the people
if it works or not.
-I'm pretty sure it will.
-Yeah, I've been
taking photos every day.
Yeah, good.
And you can actually
see a reduction
in the size of the lump itself.
-Already in five days?
-Yeah.
Just it's not a
massive difference,
-but yeah, just yeah.
-It's shrinking.
-A small amount, yeah.
-Yeah, cool.
Not gonna buck me off, are you?
[horse grunts]
[horse whinnies]
[calm music]
If he going us?
[Camera Man] I don't know.
They did clock the camera
before I saw the guy at all.
-They did what?
-Clock the camera.
So they might just be--
I'm not sure what that is, yeah.
What are we filming guys?
[Camera Man] A
nature documentary.
We can turn off
early if you'd like.
I'm just wondering
where that cop is
and if he's still behind us
and don't believe he is,
I think he's pulled off.
He's gone?
Yeah.
[camera man mumbles]
No, I think he's gone.
[Camera Man] I would just...
Whenever I see police
when I'm driving,
I get like a,
almost like a slight
hypoventilation and I feel,
I think, oh have I got
any medicine in the car?
I just notice right then
when a police car drove past,
I had a card that had
medical cannabis advisory
written on it and
if you get pulled up
and that's visually seen,
then there's due cause
to search the car.
I try and always remember
the police are very human,
we're all humans.
Everything's you know,
that they're not out on a
witch hunt particularly for me,
but it's hard to tell
my subconscious that.
[Camera Man] Are your
hand's shaking a bit?
They are shaking.
They were yes, my
hands were shaking
and now I'm getting everything
under control again.
[wind rustles]
[phone rings]
[Woman] It's like he's
got a bloody rubber band
around the bowel.
He can't physically eat
anymore without vomiting.
We have to wait two
an a half months
so he can actually
see a specialist.
It had turned to the size
of a fucking mandarin.
There's a tumor the
size of a mandarin
grown in a month?
[Woman] Yes.
Wow, I'm gonna make sure
that you get some CBD
to help him stay calm
and do some other things.
The THC is vaporizing
or smoking.
So lung induced, then
there's oral administration
and then there's actually
rectal administration.
You're going to get the
best outcome possible
if he can take it as a
suppository and orally as well.
Sugar, process meats, alcohol,
tobacco need to,
they need to see the
back of those ASAP.
[Woman] Yeah, yeah,
yeah, thank you.
-All right, see you later.
-I appreciate your help.
-My pleasure.
-Bye.
Hearing things like bacon
and coffee for breakfast
and cigarettes and all
that kind of stuff.
I need to be as encouraging
as I can with people
to really clean it up.
I starting using
cocaine really heavily
you know, like a gram a day,
that was just everyday
and that particular
drug has the capacity
to hollow you right out.
You know I think it an
enormous amount of motivation
and dedication to be a
full scale drug addict
on the level that I was.
We'd often party all night,
bottle of tequila, 10
pills, snort, whatever,
have an hour sleep or none at
all and then get into work,
and cook 50 different menu
items in an open kitchen
blazed out of our minds.
I just didn't stop.
I'd be in the
bathroom having lines,
I'd be under the
bench having lines,
I'd be at home having lines.
I'd wake up in the
middle of the night
and have lines and
go back to sleep.
Was a wrecking ball
for my relationship.
She worked with me and
ran the restaurant.
Cocaine helped us to really
toxify our relationship
to the point it
was just horrendous
and now I think the only way
we put up with each other
was by snorting the day away.
The idea of suicide
crept in somehow.
I realized that I simply was
never really afraid of death.
Death wasn't an issue
for me, fucking life was.
I scoured a liter of tequila
and I ate three grams of cocaine
and then I ate about 80 Valiums.
So I laid back and just
fell back into a void
and then I woke up
with my dad shaking me
and looking me in the face
and tears running down
his face and saying,
you know, he's like he just
looked at me and he said,
don't fucking go there.
[birds tweet]
[Luke whistles]
Having been a
pretty broken person
and then learning
how to fix myself
with the care and
support of others,
it was my duty to go and
give that to other people.
We've got these 10 foot high,
this vine and this
is the base of it,
the base of it here
and that's on my sons placenta
and I'm so stoked to see
that, that's so cool.
A lot of people plant a tree
on their child's placenta.
This vine's known as
the vine of the souls.
So in helping to saving my soul,
planning this vine on
my sons placenta here
in a place of healing and
magic for peoples of this land,
the indigenous peoples,
there's a lot of
symbolism in that for me
and this tree here has
survived against all the odds
and that's how I
see the human spirit
and I would like those
attributes for my son.
To have a great deal of
strength of character
and survival instinct
and to be tall and
strong in this life.
[Luke whistles]
[rain patters]
[thunder roars]
[phone rings]
[Nick] Hi, Angela, how
are you doing today?
[Angela] Hi, I'm
not too good today.
I'm a bit down in the dumps.
[Nick] Yeah, I'm
sorry to hear that.
Have you already
started undergoing
chemotherapy or radiation?
[Angela] This is my third week.
-Right.
-And then, sorry.
[Nick] Okay, yeah
I'm listening, go on.
[Angela] And then I'm
on vitamins one and two.
[Nick] Okay.
Then I'd like to introduce a
combination of THC and CBD.
[Angela] Thank you
very much for that.
You're welcome, darling.
All right, well,
we'll speak soon
and I'll email you tonight.
You just send me your email.
All right.
[phone rings]
Ted, you going?
[Ted] Yeah, good man.
So the CBD, you take it
two to three times a day
like a large rice
grain under the tongue?
[Ted] Yeah, I've only,
I can only do it
morning and night
'cause I can't take it to work
because I don't have you
know a fridge at work
or anything, so.
[Nick] Yeah, I have a feeling
it's gonna help you, mate.
[Ted] Yes.
Have a great day,
lots of love and
we'll speak soon.
I experimented with the
harder drugs at an early age.
You know, LSD and a bit
of speed here and there
in the late 80s.
I started using heroin
when I was my mid 20s.
Was pretty lucky
to survive that.
I spent I'd say maybe three
or four years off and on
using that stuff.
I had a couple of
really close calls.
I OD'd three times.
I was clinically dead twice.
And ambition sort of
pulled me out of that.
And when I moved to the States,
I sort of gave it all away
and left that sort of
part of my life behind me.
But I'm sort of glad that
I went through that now
because it's given me a
really good understanding
on addiction and how people
cope with giving up opiates.
This is my other mum.
We're gonna talk about
why you needed to see me.
[Mom] Lucky I've
got you for son.
The problem I have is here.
Just sort of tells the story
of what my poor little
backbone looks like.
[Nick] So you can see there's
some pretty serious stuff
going on with her spine.
[Man] They recommended
oxycodone, Endone and Targin,
which was quite a cocktail,
made me pretty ill.
I think the worst part of it
was that it put my
plumbing to sleep.
It was humiliating
to say the least.
I've always been a
pretty forthright,
pretty strong sort of a person.
So I was never used to having
people do things for me.
After 12 months on those drugs,
I was advised that if I
just stopped taking it,
it would be a little
bit difficult.
That was a big understatement.
It was horrendous.
It took me 10 days,
I was in cold sweats,
I was saturating my bed every
night, I had hallucinations.
But right now, I might
not even take that THC
because my pain gets bad if
I'm moving, if I'm bending,
Which you do a lot,
you're very active.
[Mom] Yeah, you were on
the phone to me everyday,
seeing if it was working
for me and it was working,
-I was up on my feet--
-How long did that take?
Do you remember?
Like from the time that you
took it to the pain stopping.
[Mom] The pain stopped
within about 15 minutes.
So I don't have to employ
somebody to push me around
in the wheelchair and
be embarrassed and
humiliated anymore
-and I'm not in pain.
-Yeah.
[Mom] And if you don't
know how the hell
you're gonna stop
the pain you're in,
that is pretty scary.
What about losing your supply?
-How does that make you feel?
-That is even scarier
and one of the reasons why
I don't want to be filmed,
I don't want my name mentioned,
I don't want anybody to know
where I live or who I am.
If it makes you feel any better,
I've buried a bunch of
it in the garden for you.
So if I do get taken away,
I'll just send you a letter
and tell you where it's buried.
[Mom] I feel tragically
sorry for people
who can't access it or
who've been indoctrinated
into thinking there's
something wrong with it.
And I was skeptical,
but I was in pain.
So thank you for giving me
the last year of my life back.
-My pleasure.
-'Cause it's pretty precious.
[calm music]
World needs people
like mum definitely.
So what I tend to do is
once I get my supply,
is put it in a syringe for
safekeeping with a stopper on it
and then I've just
put a drawing up
which is a blunt needle,
so it's not a sharp,
it's not gonna hurt you
and we're going to
give on your finger.
We're gonna give
a couple of drops.
You can do that finger, are you?
Yeah and then
that'll just come out
drop by drop so I can monitor
how much he's getting.
-Ohh.
-Whoops.
There you go, four drops.
That's a lot, yeah.
And he's gonna rub that under,
in the sides of his mouth
and he'll hate the taste.
He'll screw that up.
-It's not great, is it?
-No.
It's one of the less
pleasant things.
[Sandy] Their diagnosis
was stage four.
-Yeah, okay.
-Yeah.
When Sandy asked, so what
are we talking, years?
And she said, no, months,
and I've sort of gone, shit.
It was like a big
kick in the guts.
So we took three days
just to digest it.
And then it was, for me,
it was full on let's research
the fuck out of this.
I need to know, you know?
And I didn't care whether
it was conventional or not.
You wondered what would work,
-what would save him?
-I wanted to know,
-yeah, yeah.
-So we just threw
everything at it.
[Sandy] Did a lot of
research on dosing
and it's said to start
with one drop for four days
-and then go to two drops--
-start low, go slow.
Yeah, the start low, go slow.
And I said, "Sorry, fuck
the go slow process.
You going to a mil
and a half today."
We just went, boom.
And what had happened
when you got those scans?
Left side around into here
had gone from 18 or 20 tumors
down to less than five.
Okay, significantly.
How did that feel being a nurse?
I have asked every
oncologist that we've been to
and I've asked GPS,
can we get a script,
can we get a script?
No, sorry, I don't feel
comfortable doing that.
It's legal for chemotherapy
side effects, you know?
-So for nausea, vomiting,
-That's right.
But it's not for treatment.
I did actually say to
the radiation oncologist
can I have a script?
And she said, "No, no well
you don't fit in the category,
you haven't got cancer anymore."
Now that you technically
do have cancer again,
sorry to bring it up
again, but what's,
what would be the outlook then?
It's still the same,
they don't do it.
Because you're not
undergoing chemo.
He wouldn't be going
undergoing chemo.
And we dropped down
to maintenance dosing,
which was really quite minimal
'cause again, you
know, finances really--
This is a big issue,
-isn't it?
-yeah,
-it's expensive.
-It's expensive on that note,
I also wanted to donate a
bunch of oils to you guys
so that you can take on a,
you know a bit more of
a full scale approach.
I understand how difficult
it gets for people
to service this
kind of thing, so.
I don't feel like,
I'm absolutely wanting
and welcoming and
appealing for assistance,
of better trained
professionals to step in
and be able to
help these people.
And at the moment, I
feel like we're a bit
of a one-stop shop
for this issue
and this issue shouldn't
be a one-stop shop.
You need counselors,
you need prescribers,
you need people then
that dispense it,
you need people that grow it,
you need people
in manufacture it.
You need so many different
people that I'm not,
and I don't know if
anyone's truly equipped
to deal with speaking
to endless cases
of people that can't
get what they need
and have those really
difficult decisions to face.
I just, you know, part
of me is a voice in my,
an inner voice that says,
one you're doing
really wonderful work
and another voice that
says, well, I mean,
I'm not the guy for the job.
[phone rings]
I'm just giving in
'cause fucking hell.
Hey darling, how you doing?
[woman] Still just in pain
'cause I don't have
anything to sort of
help me get through the day.
I'm gonna make sure that you
get some things, that's okay.
I hate hearing you like this.
We'll get things
done in the morning.
[Woman] I'm sorry, I don't
meant to like bother you
on a weekend and stuff,
but I'm just like really,
really struggling.
Are any of the pharmaceutical
meds doing anything to help?
You know, what are you taking
-of those at the moment?
-Like Endone a little bit
but I can't just
keep taking opioids.
So that's why like I'm
considering hysterectomy
because nothing else is helping.
Do you feel like
the oils have had
had any significant
benefit to you?
-Like, even in the short-term?
-Oh huge.
Helps with my anxiety,
helps with my heart racing,
helps me sleep.
As far as a hysterectomy goes,
I mean you're aware of
what that means for your
-around?
-Well it means
we can't have kids and I'm 23.
It means you can't, yeah.
I mean that's a huge choice
for a 23 year old to make.
I mean just for me to feel
that you're saying that,
if that and that means
you can't have kids,
I mean, that brings
up a lot for me,
let alone what it
must bring up for you.
[Woman] Yeah.
Look, I need to get to a point
where you just don't
know what else to do.
Yeah.
So I don't have the words really
to actually express
how that decision
that you're looking at
makes me feel and...
And I hope you find
strength wherever you can.
-Talk to you soon, bye.
-All right,
we'll talk tomorrow.
-See you, Luke.
-Okay.
[phone clanks]
All right.
[indicator flicks]
[car rumbles]
Anyway, anyway.
Can we cut for a tick?
Can we just, just for a
tick, is that all right?
I just, just...
[man bangs]
[man grunts]
With Aikido, you can
do it physically,
just basically as a technique
or you can unify mind and body
and use that person's
power and energy.
For that, you've gotta
be centered yourself.
You don't need
physical strength.
You can do all kinds of things
that don't require
physical strength.
So there's a whole bunch
of tests that we do.
We use an arrow, so here.
So this is very daunting
and we're gonna
break this arrow.
So from there,
unify mind and body,
you relax, you move forward.
[arrow snaps]
Looks easy, it is.
But if you don't get
taught how to move properly
and use your energy properly,
this can be a bit tricky.
So don't try it at home.
I had a red spot on my forehead
which I couldn't get rid of.
So I went to my GP,
he did a biopsy,
and it came back as skin cancer.
If you cut into cancers,
quite often it seeds
into your blood supply
and it did, it went
into my left nymph node
and they want to cut me
open from here to here,
across here, down
here and across here,
pull all the skin back
and you'll be deformed.
I said, "Okay, I
don't wanna do that.
I want to try other things."
And that little one
grew to a monster.
Thought that's strange,
so I went into the bathroom,
peeled the bandage off
and I was bleeding out
from a carotid artery.
So it was raised
to an emergency.
They put a torch into the hole,
they said, "We can actually
see the carotid artery.
It's completely diseased,
we can't even operate."
Said, "How long have I got?"
they said, "Minutes to hours."
Any blood pressure
increase or a laugh
or a cough or a movement
or the way that it's going,
it's gonna burst out you're
just going to bleed out.
I had, at that stage, been
examined by nine oncologists
and all said the same thing.
You know, you're not
gonna survive this,
you're gonna die.
[bell dings]
But I survived that night.
Obviously I couldn't do Aikido,
I could hardly move properly.
But I practiced some of
the breathing and mind,
the meditation techniques.
My last resort was to look
at medicinal cannabis.
If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.
So you know, I wasn't
too concerned personally
about the legality status of it.
The doctor came out and said,
"Yeah, well, there it looks
a lot better than the
last time I saw it,
but there's a huge
hole, Michael.
That's going to take
three months to close up."
But in one month,
that hole closed up.
Using CBD and THC which was
miraculous to the nurses
and to the doctor, they
weren't expecting that.
So my GP saw the
pictures and he said,
"I bumped into your oncologist
and showed him the pictures.
The oncologist
never said a word.
He just looked at it,
shut up and walked away."
That's unfortunate because
it's about saving human life.
And in suffering,
open your mindset up
to what else is out there.
Luke saw the wound
and saw the reduction,
you know, he was very excited
because it helps people
and helped me.
People wanted to
know how I was fixed.
So I told them about it.
Luke said, "Do you want
to be an advocate?"
I said, "Yeah, I want
people to get better."
Now I know about helping
people and dosing it correctly.
So it gave me purpose.
Hey come on in.
-Good to see you.
-You too, man.
I do have the odd
moment of real concern
that the stress of
what you're doing
may translate into a
resurgence of your,
of your condition.
In this hand I hold
the beautiful things that
this has brought to my life,
that I'll never forget
and will always do
in some way, shape or form,
whether in the
service or another.
And in the hand to
hold the reality
of the impact that
it's had on my health.
And my concern for
you is that I wonder
if you're putting
aside your life
in order to keep
doing this for others.
And I just want you to know,
I love what you're doing.
-Thank you.
-And I also love you enough
that if you said to me, I
feel like I need to stop this
for my own wellbeing,
that I would support you in that
as all the people supported me.
I took 2000 patients
names out of my phone
that had direct access to me
and I gave them to
all of these people.
And now the patients
are getting better care.
It got to a critical
mass, you know, recently.
And then I think I
don't have a life.
There's people for some reason,
planning badly, running out
of product on the weekend,
urgently need it and you
don't get any time off,
at night or during the
day and things like that.
And you're dealing with people,
you've gotta give them
attention and your energy.
And by the end of the
day, you're a bit weary.
And then you get calls
and you get texts
and you need to respond.
So you feel yourself
forcing to respond.
And I know that if I
look at my phone now,
there'll be six to
10 texts, you know?
And that's gotta
change, you know,
'cause I'm not 100% yet.
I had no future,
I was depressed and anxious
and I didn't know how I was
gonna look after myself.
You helped me and supported
me through all that.
Really is true and wonderful.
-Thank you.
-I'm very touched
that you'd say that.
[calm music]
[car rumbles]
How you doing?
Congratulations.
Leave my fucking
hair alone, mate.
Come here.
How's the baby?
-Baby's good, baby's good.
-Yeah?
Is he like, come
back into shape?
-Yeah.
-Dude was he squashed?
His head looked
like a little alien.
-Full on, isn't it?
-Yeah.
Yeah.
-You had some sleep?
-Yeah.
Straight up and turn right.
I lost two patients last week.
-Really?
-Left here.
They were, you know, still
lucid and still comfortable
and one in particular managed
to eat three meals a
day for his last week
and he hadn't eaten
-for months before then.
-Wow.
So just for the fact that
he was able to enjoy,
you know some meals
-before he died.
-Awesome, last meals.
It's huge, isn't it?
-Hello.
-Hey Allymae.
Hello Manuka.
-Look at that.
-Yeah.
-Just a little lump.
-It's slightly there but--
[Nick] I'd still
kept putting it on.
-Is it that good?
-From that massive lump
that it was sticking
right out from her nose.
The treatment time was
about six to eight weeks,
-wasn't it?
-Yeah.
See to me, it doesn't
feel like there's any,
it's like if I go
like that, right?
-Yeah, yup.
-That's the size of
maybe half a pea in there.
And so it would be interesting
to just keep putting
some on there
-Yeah, okay.
-and see if that
just disappear completely, hey?
[lively music]
Lately, I'm so impressed
with what's happened, hey.
-Good girl.
-Beautiful girl.
-Hey Luke.
-How are you?
We got some photos. I want to
have a look at them with you
-of last time
-Okay, yeah.
when we first started and let's
have a look at them together
and see if we're
imagining things.
Well here especially,
that's all gone down.
[Luke] Yeah, that whole,
the whole front part of it.
And now it's actually
flattened off.
There's been a
significant reduction,
at least on the front
half of the tumor
and that whole part
there that's protruding,
that's all gone.
There's no pressure or anything,
but if we can wrap
this up in 15 minutes,
everyone will be happy.
-There, see, no pressure,
-Yeah, no pressure
-whatsoever.
-don't be anxious.
It's been a couple of months
since we saw you last.
We implemented a
regimen of using oils.
What's happened for you?
Ah mate, what hasn't happened?
Since starting on the oils,
I've stopped taking the vast
majority of my medication.
I'm not smoking anymore.
[Luke] You look a lot
clearer in your face.
Yeah, yeah.
You know, I mean between the
oils and my girlfriend, yeah.
Like things are
really good, man.
If we go to the doctor,
there might be some
other reason why he is.
Absolutely, you know,
I think we need to
get blood tests.
I think we need to
explore all the options,
put them together and
find a way forward.
How do you feel about that?
Yeah, I'm all for it.
You all for it?
I really appreciate
what you're doing.
-Thanks.
-Yeah.
-All right, cheers.
-Thank you very much.
It's been roughly two months
since we first started him off
and I'm really happy
he's decided to accept
outside professional help.
The kind of which I can't give.
I'm so happy about that.
[calm music]
Come on mate, come on bro.
Bring it in.
Thanks for everything, man.
I had to go through nine
sessions of chemotherapy.
During that, I took
the medicinal cannabis,
which took away a
lot of the nausea,
gave me my appetite,
helped me sleep.
Going in for a little paddle?
Austin didn't even
know I surfed.
I haven't surfed for a while.
Well, I already knew
what I was up for
'cause I went through
testicular cancer when I was 22
and I knew I needed
something else
to help me through this stage.
Yeah, amazing to say the least.
Your dealer is your healer.
That's right.
[both men laugh]
I'm in remission now.
At the same time, I'm
not listening to doctors
with their, you know,
you're in remission,
just go on about your life.
Still on the medicinal cannabis,
slowly taking my way off that.
[Nick] Being
diagnosed with cancer,
if it doesn't kill you, it'll
completely change your life.
[Austin] I feel like
if anything, I've
become super human.
[waves crash]
I feel like a
criminal if I stopped.
If I was to turn my
phone off tomorrow,
so many people would
be in a real spot.
You know this work that we
do needs to be continued.
And if we can't continue it,
then please provide us
with people that can.
[lively music]
I really hope what I'm doing
and the things I'm talking about
are taken in the spirit
that they're meant.
What we're trying
to do is a positive,
good thing and is helping
and please don't lock me
up or anyone that I know.
I rejected life at one place,
I didn't wanna be in it
and every single day, I get
this massive rush of gratitude
at some point that I'm alive
and this is my reminder today.
[footsteps clank]
[phone rings]
-Hey, Nicholas.
-Yeah, hi there.
We've been playing
phone tag all day.
How's your partner doing?
[Man] Yeah, look you know
is just that arthritis.
[many people speaking
at the same time]
[calm music]
[phone rings]
[Nick] Sounds fucking horrible.
So your body's full
of inflamation, yeah?
[Luke] He said the doctor
said that he wasn't terminal.
[Woman] No one survived.
[Luke] All right, take care.
[slow intense music]