Balancing the Scales: Billie Holiday, Modern Medicine and the Fight for Honest Healing

A Voice Too Powerful to Silence

When we talk about Billie Holiday, we’re not just talking about one of the greatest jazz vocalists of all time; we’re talking about a woman whose voice cracked open the silence around racial terror.

Her song Strange Fruit didn’t just speak of pain, it defied power.

It made people uncomfortable, it told the truth.

The U.S. government didn’t just target her because of substance use.

They targeted her because she dared to feel, to express and to wake people up.

Billie became more than an artist, she became a symbol of what happens when truth refuses to be quiet.

Today, her story echoes in places we don’t always expect, like in conversations around healing, medicine and the fight to choose how we care for our minds.

The Fear of the Free Mind

In the 1930s and '40s, Billie Holiday’s voice disrupted more than the music scene, it disrupted the comfort of denial.

Strange Fruit wasn’t welcome in an America that didn’t want to see its own reflection.

Harry Anslinger, head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, went after Billie with a vengeance.

Not just because of her heroin use but because of her defiance.

He used the system to strip her of power.

When she was dying in a hospital bed, he made sure she was arrested, handcuffed and alone.

No mercy, no dignity.

She was punished for being unapologetically herself.

For feeling too much.

For refusing to silence the soul of her art.

Cannabis Helped Me Create This—But It’s Complicated

Fast forward to now.

I’m building something of my own.

This space, this story, this vision, it’s born from intention and clarity.

And yes, cannabis has helped.

It helped quiet the noise, helped me tap into stillness, made room for creativity.

It helped me slow down and reconnect with myself, not in escape but in return.

But I’m not here to glorify it blindly.

I’ve also felt what happens when the balance tips.

I’ve experienced symptoms of psychosis, moments of distortion that made me question everything.

Was it the weed?

Was it trauma, unprocessed emotion or a deeper neurological sensitivity?

Maybe it was all of it.

What I know is this: it’s not black and white.

And that’s exactly why we need more honesty, not less.

We can acknowledge that something helps without pretending it’s harmless.

We can talk about benefits while still holding space for risk.

Especially in a world where most cannabis is unregulated, strains are stronger than ever and people are often left to figure it out alone.

Pharma vs. Nature: A Persistent Double Standard

Cannabis is often dismissed as risky, while powerful prescription drugs, like antipsychotics, opioids, and benzodiazepines—are handed out freely, despite their own serious risks.

History reminds us that modern medicine has made grave mistakes, from Thalidomide to the opioid crisis.

It’s not that pharmaceuticals have no place, they do.

But healing shouldn’t be limited to one system.

Nature and science can coexist.

Same Playbook, Different Era

Like Billie Holiday, people today still face stigma for seeking healing outside the mainstream.

Whether through cannabis, plant medicine or mindfulness, the resistance remains.

But so does our clarity.

We know healing is personal.

And we know real wellness isn’t always found in a pill bottle.

So here’s to Billie and to every woman learning to trust her body, honour her needs and reclaim her power.

Here’s to building a future rooted in ancient wisdom, shaped by truth and lit by the freedom to choose what truly makes us whole.