The late broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes turned to marijuana before his death, his widow has revealed.

Lady Deborah Holmes said her husband was not a drug user but “in the final weeks it was the one thing that could give him peace and comfort”.

Sir Paul died age 62 in February 2013 after battling heart problems and the return of prostate cancer.

His wife told Herald columnist Brian Rudman that he was allergic to morphine and the alternative concoction of drugs “sent him off to la la land”.

She said it wasn’t just the pain, but the anxiety that was relieved by the marijuana.

“It relaxed him,” she said.

Lady Deborah said he smoked the drug and the couple were unaware of cannabis oil, which has been used by terminally ill patients such as Helen Kelly, former President of the Council of Trade Unions, who has cancer.

It also follows in the wake of revelations that cricketer Martin Crowe was using marijuana for medicinal purposes before his death from cancer.

Given the relief it provide Sir Paul, she supported marijuana use on medical grounds.