New York ? Melissa Etheridge says she smoked medicinal marijuana to help with the side effects of chemotherapy during her treatment for breast cancer.

The 44-year-old singer, who was diagnosed more than a year ago, is now cancer-free.

“Instead of taking five or six of the prescriptions, I decided to go a natural route and smoke marijuana,” Etheridge says in an interview to air on “Dateline NBC” at 8 p.m. Sunday on Sunflower Broadband Channels 8 and 14.

When asked how her doctors reacted, Etheridge says, “Every single one was, ‘Oh, yeah. That’s the best help for the effects of chemotherapy.'”

The singer says she smoked marijuana every day for her pain and symptoms and “the minute I didn’t feel it, I stopped.”

The use of marijuana with a doctor’s recommendation is legal in California and nine other states, but is against federal law.

Etheridge says she isn’t concerned about federal prosecution.

“No, I didn’t worry. But it was worth it.”

Her new greatest hits album, “The Road Less Traveled,” includes the new song “I Run for Life,” which is dedicated to the fight against breast cancer.