Whoopi Goldberg. Credit: The View

Multi-award-winning actor, comedian, author and television personality Whoopi Goldberg suffers from acute angle closure (AAC) glaucoma and is an outspoken proponent for medical cannabis, which she uses as part of her treatment.

In 2014, The View talk show co-host revealed that she smokes marijuana via vaporisers to ease the painful headaches she experiences as a symptom of her glaucoma. While in an article she penned for The Denver Post she wrote that the vape pen had changed her life. “In fact, her name is Sippy. And yes, she’s a ‘she’. And yes, I named her Sippy because I take tiny, little sips — sassy sips, even — from her. And with each sip comes relief – from pressure, pain, stress, discomfort.”

Goldberg also co-founded Whoopi & Maya, a medical cannabis company selling products for women seeking relief from menstrual cramps. She said she was inspired to go into business by "a lifetime of difficult periods and the fact that cannabis was literally the only thing that gave me relief". The company was launched in April 2016 but has since ceased operations.

Born Caryn Elaine Johnson in New York in 1955, Goldberg told The New York Times that her stage name originates from the whoopee cushion. "When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So, if you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.' And that's where the name came from."