simple plant could save them and the scientific study could prove it. so cecily soldiers on, hoping the vegas odds are with her. and while she waits, nearly 3,000 miles away in boston another study, another seed of the revolution is just getting planted. it s the most exciting time i can think of, really, for marijuana research. this is high times in marijuana research. it really is. what i need you to do is identify the number that s different, okay? harvard university s dr. staci gruber has been researching marijuana since the early 1990s. they call her the pot doc. we first met her two years ago when she was researching the possible damage of recreational marijuana to the brain. now she s also set her sights on the possible benefits of medical marijuana. massachusetts as it turns out is the perfect sort of place for
this study because they just legalized medical marijuana. gruber s goal is to study new patients who have never used cannabis. our goal was to look at these folks before they started using medical marijuana and then three months in, six months in, and then a year. primarily to look at frontal executive functions because that s really the question. that question how does medical marijuana impact brain function longer term? i want you to name the blocks of color for me as quickly as you can. before and after medicating, patients will take cognitive tests and here s what s revolutionary. they re going to have their brains scanned to chart the change. for the first time, we will see what your brain looks like on weed. nearly half the country now has medical marijuana laws on the books. this is happening and yet one of the most fundamental questions remains unanswered. right. that s what you re trying to do. i d like to see what it looks
i think that would be a huge deal. dr. staci gruber knows what a turning point that would be. studies that have used marijuana from the government have been very, very helpful, but perhaps somewhat limited because, quote, street product has gone through the roof in terms of potency and strain type. the closer to real world scenarios in the lab, the better off we re going to be. that was fantastic. we re going to come on in and get you out. a real-world scenario is exactly what gruber was able to study. she didn t have to get the cannabis from ole miss. amelia taylor bought her marijuana from a local dispensary. and now we get to see what the impact has been, her brain on cannabis. now remember, she s been using marijuana every day for three months. dr. gruber found no evidence of impairment to amelia s brain. there was a change over here in
were you suicidal? i can t say i didn t feel that way. like so many we ve heard from before, the potent drugs prescribed for her didn t help. that s how i came across the cannabis because i felt like i had tried so many things to no avail. church raised and home schooled, amelia was taught that marijuana was evil. what do you have that helps just like during the day for anxiety? but now she decided it was necessary. she joined dr. gruber s study knowing they d monitor her progress, and it gave her the confidence to buy and try cannabis for the first time in the fall of 2014. i felt really relaxed and really happy. i felt like joyful. it was such a weird experience for me because i just hadn t felt that way in a while.
i felt like my mind was being held hostage. were you suicidal? i can t say i didn t feel that way. like so many we ve heard from before, the potent drugs prescribed for her didn t help. that s how i came across the cannabis because i felt like i had tried so many things to no avail. church raised and home schooled, amelia was taught that marijuana was evil. what do you have that helps during the day for anxiety? but now she decided it was necessary. she joined dr. gruber s study knowing they d monitor her progress, and it gave her the confidence to buy and try cannabis for the first time in the fall of 2014. i felt really relaxed and really happy. i felt like joyful.