Moved by the plight of Australians having to resort to illegal medicinal cannabis, Helen Kapalos left her career in television to self-fund a documentary which reveals the compelling medical logic and science of this contentious topic.
With the project now in its final weeks of post-production – with editors working around the clock to get it finished – the former Channel 7 presenter has turned to crowdfunding via the My Cause website to offset some of the spiralling costs of the groundbreaking film.
And after just a week of going live, the online campaign launched on May 1 (under the title Medical Marijuana Mission) has realised over $8,000 of its $20,000 target; the result of more than 130 individual donations.
Kapalos’ impassioned exploration of the medical marijuana debate for Channel 7’s Sunday Night show in 2014 brought the subject to national attention.
The film chronicles how Tamworth man Dan Haslam – who died earlier this year aged 25 after succumbing to bowel cancer – became an unlikely crusader for medical marijuana. Mr Haslam’s advocacy of the drug pushed its use to the brink of legislation in NSW and Victoria.
Much of the production was shot in Israel where the world’s most extensive trials of medical marijuana have been conducted.
Writing about the huge response to the My Cause campaign on Facebook, Ms Kapalos said she was “overwhelmed and humbled” by the response.
Many of the donations have come from families of patients afflicted by conditions alleviated by the use of medical marijuana.
Ms Kapalos said the remarkable response spoke of “that fundamental human right of being able to make a discerning choice in our health care” and that the personal stories of loved ones lost had “strengthened my resolve to shed light on this issue”.
One of the largest single donations – of $500 – came from Cancer Voices NSW, a voluntary group of people affected by cancer. A spokesperson for the group said the film would increase awareness of the reasons for making access to medical cannabis legal.
To make a donation go to http://www.mycause.com.au/page/100135/medicalmarijuanamission