A new documentary designed to shift public attitudes toward medicinal cannabis has begun production, with its makers putting out an open call for patients willing to tell their stories on camera.
In Plain Sight, directed by filmmaker Jay Richards and backed by United in Compassion co-founder Lucy Haslam, has secured full funding and is now advancing to its next production phase.
The film aims to push back against a wave of recent negative media coverage by bringing attention to the profound, life-altering difference medicinal cannabis has made for thousands of Australians.
While the industry broadly accepts that it has problems and practices requiring reform, there is growing frustration that mainstream reporting tends to focus exclusively on a handful of bad actors and overlooks the many positive elements of the medicine and the industry.
Writing in the June edition of AMCA Connect, Haslam called on healthcare professionals to put forward patients whose lives had been positively affected by medicinal cannabis and who would be willing to share their experiences on screen.
“We are especially keen to hear from veterans, cancer patients, patients who have been adversely affected by drug driving or workplace drug regulations, elderly patients, sports injured patients including head injury or other serious injury,” she said.
Practitioners wishing to nominate a patient can send an email to lu*********@*****rg.au providing the patient’s name, age, diagnosis, address, and phone number.
Final selection will be guided by a range of considerations, including each patient’s location and the overall requirements of the production.
The production team expects to release the documentary before the end of the year.
