New research shows that cannabis exposure in early pregnancy doesn’t directly predict autism.

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95 percent or caretakers reported improved quality of life.

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The Arizona Department of Revenue recently released new data about cannabis sales reported for the months of June and July.

Medical cannabis sales started in Arizona back in December 2012, while recreational cannabis sales started in Arizona in January 2021, but recent data shows that both industries have been experiencing a gradual decrease in sales.

For medical cannabis during the month of June, sales dipped to $28 million followed by a downward trend of $26.1 million in July, which the Arizona Mirror reports as the lowest sales number for medical cannabis since recreational sales began. Within the past 30 months, medical cannabis sales have only fallen below the $30 million mark five times—all of which were recorded in 2023. This includes the months of January, February, May, June, and July, while sales in March and April remained above $30 million.

The highest amount of medical cannabis sales that the state has collected in its history of sales was in April 2021 with $73.4 million, and other monthly sales data shows a decrease in sales, such as July 2022 with $40 million.

These steady decreases in medical sales are seen alongside slight increases in recreational sales. In March 2023 recreational sales reached $99.9 million, while April recreational sales hit $90.1 million. However, June sales data shows a decrease to $85 million, followed by $77 million in July.

The total amount of money collected from total cannabis sales in 2022 was $1.4 billion (medical brought in $500 million, and recreational hit $9.50 million). Since January 2021, the state has collected $1.5 billion in medical cannabis sales, while recreational sales made more than $2.2 billion within the same time period.

Year-to-date data shows that so far between January-July, Arizona has collected a total of $207 million in medical cannabis sales, and $621 million in recreational cannabis sales.

So far, the data reviews how recreational cannabis has reached new heights while medical cannabis sales gradually decrease, but both markets have been trending downward overall since March 2023.

Data for state excise taxes show that recreational cannabis has generated more than $208.2 million in 2023 (so far), which is an increase compared to excise tax data for 2021. The department shows that adult-use cannabis generated $32.9 million over the course of 11 months, followed by $132.8 million in 2022. In overall cannabis excise taxes, Arizona has collected more than $360 million.

State law requires that one third of cannabis excise taxes go toward community colleges, while 31% goes toward public safety as well as law enforcement and fire departments. Additionally, 25% is given to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, which is distributed to various cities and towns to improve highway construction and other related expenses. Finally, 10% of cannabis taxes are put into the justice reinvestment fund, which can be used for various substance abuse programs, workforce development, but also to accomplish other goals such as helping residents expunge their criminal records.

Cannabis patient card numbers are collected by the Arizona Department of Health Services, which recently reported that there were 126,938 cardholders in July, and 124,496 in August. The state’s highest number of cardholders was recorded in January 2021 with 299,054 patients. The department also shared that during the month of August, medical cannabis patients bought 4,719 pounds of various cannabis products. Between January and August, patients have purchased 37,979 pounds.

Even though medical cannabis sales have decreased, it hasn’t stopped patients from using it to treat their various medical conditions. In March, a bill was introduced to add autism and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions, and was passed by the House in June.

A year ago in 2022, more than 1,450 Arizonians were pardoned from their past federal cannabis possession convictions between 1992-2021, as directed by the Executive Order announced by President Joe Biden. According to Arizona attorney Jonathan Udell, this was a welcome change for people whose convictions have been on their record for decades. “I think there’s a lot of people out there that really feel the sting of being branded a non-law-abiding citizen,” Udell said. “And this sends a very big message to those people that you’re not a bad person because you smoked a plant one time that grew out of the ground or possessed some grass in your pocket.”

While the industry keeps a close eye on the performance of both medical and recreational cannabis, other substances being researched for medical use are also continuing to grow. Earlier this year in May, an Arizona veteran was facing prison time for trying to treat his cluster headaches with DMT. “It’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life,” Laetzsch said about the headaches. “Nothing helps the headache as well as DMT when I’m actually having it. It will abort the headache immediately. A small hit will abort the headache for about an hour to an hour and a half. If I take a bigger hit it can last longer but some of the headaches last a few hours so I would have to take a few hits during that episode. But, I would be pain-free. It wasn’t even a psychoactive amount that I smoked to abort the headache.” Currently, DMT is illegal in Arizona.

Psilocybin is also illegal in the state, although recent legislation has been introduced to allow research to be conducted on the substance.

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Nine-year-old Krystal Mattis is unable to attend full days at school because she uses cannabis tincture to treat epilepsy and autism spectrum disorder. 

Sabrina and Tim Mattis, her parents, told CBS News they want their daughter to receive a full-time education, which up until now she has been unable to do because of her symptoms. In order to attend a full day at school, Sabrina and Tim said Krystal needs a dose of her tincture at lunchtime. The tincture is a mixture of CBD and THC mixed in with some juice.

The school, however, told Sabrina and Tim that Krystal has to consume her medicine away from school property and come back to class afterwards if she wants to use cannabis during the day.

“I feel it’s unfair. It’s unjust,” Sabrina Mattis said to CBS. “She just deserves to be at school a full day and have her medicine like any other kid.”

On top of her regular doctor visits and the various therapies required to treat her disorders, Krystal is nonverbal and uses a device to communicate, according to the CBS article. Sabrina and Tim Mattis said that taking her in and out of school would only serve to further disrupt their daughter’s schedule and unnecessarily confuse her. 

“To take her back, that just throws her out of her routine. The chances of her not understanding the whole situation and having discomfort more likely to not have a good rest of the day, as opposed to us just going there administering her dose and leaving and it’s barely an interruption,” Tim said to CBS.

Unable to sway the school and unwilling to take away what they described to CBS as a game changer medication for their daughter, Sabrina and Tim Mattis opted to keep Krystal in class for half-days. However, their fight would continue a bit higher up in the Minnesota state government. Sabrina reached out to Minnesota DFL Rep. Zack Stephenson, who authored the adult-use cannabis bill which was just recently passed in the state of Minnesota. 

Rep. Stephenson told CBS he spoke with the family and told them an exemption exists to the adult-use cannabis statute in Minnesota state law for using medical cannabis on school grounds as long as it was not ingested through smoking or vaporization, the language of which CBS said they emailed to Krystal’s school district asking for comment but they only received a brief statement saying that the district “cannot comment on a student’s medical interactions with our schools.” The district cited data privacy laws which almost all American educators, doctors and social workers are universally bound by.

Rep. Stephenson also said that keeping the Minnesota medical cannabis program intact would remain a top priority for him while helping to write and draft laws about Minnesota’s blooming adult-use market, saying the following:

“There is a strong distinction between medical and adult-use cannabis,” Rep. Stephenson said to CBS. 

According to the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Dashboard, the Minnesota medical cannabis program currently has a little over 18,000 participants which include 452 patients between the ages of five and 17. The vast majority of Minnesota medical patients use cannabis to treat chronic pain (59.3%) and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (32.3%) but the next most reported use is for severe and persistent muscle spasm disorders like epilepsy with 2,217 patients statewide. Another 802 Minnesota patients use cannabis to treat autism spectrum disorder.

The Mattis’ fight will continue as the school district has yet to change their decision regarding Krystal. As cannabis legislation progresses state by state, individual cases like this will undoubtedly be making headlines a bit more often and the line between patient’s rights and illegal activity will undoubtedly continue to blur while legislation at both the state and federal level attempts to rewrite and undo decades of cannabis prohibition laws.

“We hope to bring justice for children on medical cannabis, so they can be allowed to take their medicine at school, just the same as any other child in the state of Minnesota. That’s what we’re hoping,” Sabrina said to CBS.

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Ohio cannabis regulators last week added irritable bowel syndrome as a qualifying condition to use medical marijuana but declined to approve petitions to add autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder to the state’s list. 

Under Ohio’s medical marijuana laws, interested parties are permitted to petition the Ohio Medical Board to add new qualifying conditions annually. Last week, the board voted to approve petitions to add irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). But at the same time, the board announced it would not add autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to the list this year. 

“While this addition will help expand patient access to medical marijuana and help many Ohio patients with this condition, we are disappointed the board did not approve autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder,” said Charlie Trefny, the director of government affairs for the industry group the Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association.

Board Followed Committee Recommendations

The board’s decisions followed the recommendations of its Medical Marijuana Committee. Dr. Frederick Slezak, the committee’s expert on IBS, said that medical marijuana use could help relieve symptoms including vomiting, pain and nausea. He also noted that cannabis can be effective for acute symptoms, while most other therapies for IBS are focused on long-term treatment.

Dr. LaRae Copley, one of the committee’s autism experts, said that there are not enough placebo-controlled studies of cannabis treatment to support adding the condition to the state’s list of qualifying conditions. The committee’s OCD expert, Dr. Timothy Kantz, said some studies showed promising results, but added that he believes the quality of some of the evidence is weak.

In both cases, the committee’s experts said the potential risks of cannabis, including psychosis, negative impacts on cognitive development and cannabis use disorder, outweighed the benefits. But patient advocates challenged that assertion.

“The available scientific evidence and the experience of countless patients and doctors tell us that there are thousands of Ohioans suffering from these conditions who could benefit from treatment with medical marijuana,” said Matt Close, the executive director of the Ohio Medical Cannabis Industry Association.

Aaron Bloom, the CEO of DocMJ, a nationwide medical marijuana physician practice, applauded the addition of IBS as a qualifying condition for Ohio’s medical cannabis program. But he added that we should “strive for a healthcare system that values the expertise of medical professionals and respects the diverse needs of patients.”

“To truly harness the full potential of medical cannabis, it is essential that doctors are empowered to exercise their professional judgment and recommend it for patients based on their individual needs rather than being limited by a predefined list of approved conditions,” Bloom wrote in a statement to High Times. “By allowing doctors to make informed decisions about medical cannabis recommendations, we can ensure that patients receive the best possible care and have access to a comprehensive range of treatment options.”

More Than A Dozen Qualifying Conditions

Ohio’s medical marijuana program currently lists more than a dozen qualifying medical conditions that make a patient eligible to use cannabis medicinally, including acquired immune deficiency syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, IBS, epilepsy or another seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette’s syndrome, traumatic brain injury, ulcerative colitis, and chronic and severe or intractable pain.

The next opportunity to submit petitions to the Ohio Medical Board to add new qualifying conditions to the state’s medical marijuana program begins on November 1 and runs through December 31. In order for the board to reconsider conditions that have been previously rejected, petitioners must submit new scientific information to support the proposed change.

Recreational Marijuana Legalization Could Be Next

Ohio activists are also working to legalize recreational cannabis in the state, with a proposed ballot measure likely appearing on ballots later this year. Earlier this month, the Coalition to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol submitted petitions for a legalization initiative with more than 222,000 signatures to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. To qualify for the ballot for the November election, state officials must certify about 125,000 signatures, giving the group a significant margin to account for signatures deemed invalid. 

“We are thrilled to have reached this milestone,” campaign spokesperson Tom Haren said in a statement when the signatures were submitted. “This is a testament to the hard work of our campaign and the support of Ohio voters who are ready for common-sense marijuana reform.”

If passed, the proposed ballot initiative would legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio for adults 21 and older, who would be permitted to possess up to 2.5 ounces of marijuana and up to 15 grams of cannabis concentrates. The proposal also legalizes marijuana cultivation for personal use, with adults allowed to grow up to six cannabis plants. Households with more than one adult would be permitted to grow a total of 12 plants.

The commercial production and sales of cannabis products would be regulated by a new state agency dubbed the Division of Cannabis Control, which would have the authority to “license, regulate, investigate, and penalize adult use cannabis operators, adult use testing laboratories, and individuals required to be licensed.” Cannabis products would carry a 10% tax, which would be dedicated to administrative costs of regulation, substance misuse treatment programs and a social equity and jobs program. Municipalities with licensed recreational marijuana dispensaries would also receive a share of cannabis tax revenue. Under the proposal’s social equity program, some cannabis cultivation and dispensary licenses would be reserved for individuals from communities that have faced disproportionate enforcement of Ohio’s current marijuana laws.

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A bill that would expand the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis and lower the cost of the treatment was approved by lawmakers in Arizona. 

The bill, SB 1466, was approved on Monday by a legislative committee. If it were to become law, the measure would result in a host of changes to the state’s medical cannabis law––perhaps most notably, the addition of autism and post-traumatic stress disorder to the list of qualifying conditions. 

It was approved by a 7-2 vote by members of the Health and Human Services Committee Hearing.

The outlet AZMarijuana has a rundown of the key points of the bill, which includes: “Reduction of medical marijuana card costs to $50, with renewals every 2 years; 100% waiver of medical marijuana card costs to veterans; Adding Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder into statute; Adds Autism Spectrum Disorder as a debilitating medical condition; Alignment of the advertising, packaging, and branding to match the rules in Smart and Safe; Requires protections for children – child resistant packaging, prohibits advertising attractive to children, adds advertising restrictions; Alignment of the definition of marijuana and marijuana products; Codifying the use of telehealth; Updating the details of the requirements in the QR Code and track/traceability; Provide a unified cover sheet for COAs to simplify consumer/patient experience; Removes a government-led lab testing council and replaces with a full public forum.” 

The group Arizona Dispensaries Association has strongly backed the legislation.

“ADA supports SB1466, which gives veterans the ability to acquire a medical marijuana card at no cost,” said Ann Torrez, executive director of the Arizona Dispensaries Association, as quoted by AZMarijuana. “Often veterans suffer from PTSD, insomnia, heightened anxiety and chronic pain. A free medical marijuana card gives veteran patients access to medical cannabis treatment for any of these common conditions.”

“The ADA’s primary mission is to promote and advocate for a safe, consumer-focused cannabis industry in Arizona,” Torrez continued. “We aim to continuously educate consumers on the importance of visiting only licensed dispensaries and consuming only THC and CBD products that have been lab tested and approved.”

The bill is being considered at a time when Arizona’s medical cannabis industry is enduring sluggish sales. 

In October, medical marijuana sales in the state amounted to a little more than $31 million, which was the eighth consecutive month of decline. 

Meanwhile, the state’s adult-use cannabis market, which launched in January 2021, continues to thrive.

In that same month, recreational cannabis sales in Arizona totaled $73.8 million, which was a new high.

As AZ Mirror reported earlier this year, the “crumbling of the medical program follows a pattern other states have seen with medical markets outpaced by recreational sales in the wake of legalization.”

The outlet reported in January: “The state collects 16% excise tax on recreational sales in addition to the standard sales tax; medical patients pay roughly 6% in state sales tax, levied as a Transaction Privilege Tax on cannabis outlets. Local jurisdictions charge an additional 2% or so for all marijuana sales. One-third of recreational taxes collected are dedicated to community college and provisional community college districts; 31% to public safety — police, fire departments, fire districts, first responders — 25% to the Arizona Highway User Revenue Fund, and 10% to the justice reinvestment fund, dedicated to providing public health services, counseling, job training and other social services for communities that have been adversely affected and disproportionately impacted by marijuana arrests and criminalization. The medical market has continued to bleed both sales and participants, following a trend in some states that have legalized adult-use cannabis years after establishing medical cannabis markets.”

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A bid in Ohio to allow patients with autism to be treated with medical cannabis gained momentum this week, with lawmakers in the state House overwhelmingly passing a bill on Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored by a Democrat and a Republican, passed by a vote of 73-13, according to Cleveland.com, and it will now move to the state Senate for consideration. (Republicans hold the majority in both chambers.)

“This bill is a direct result of the needs and wants of the people of Ohio who are on the autism spectrum,” said Democratic state House Rep. Juanita Brent, one of the co-sponsors of the bill. “It will help ensure legal access to a plant-based solution free from costly prescription medications or other outdated and sometimes harmful treatments.”

Should the measure ultimately become law, Ohio would join 17 other states that currently allow patients with autism to receive medical cannabis. Under the Buckeye State’s current medical marijuana law, patients with the following qualifying conditions may be eligible for the treatment: AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cachexia, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or another seizure disorder, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, Huntington’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, Spasticity, spinal cord disease or injury, terminal illness, Tourette syndrome, traumatic brain injury, and ulcerative colitis.

The bill would also represent a long-awaited breakthrough for advocates who have tried unsuccessfully for years to add autism to the state’s list of qualifying conditions.

In 2020, the Ohio State Medical Board rejected a petition to include autism and anxiety among the qualifying conditions.

The board received public comments from opponents and supporters of the proposal. Sarah Kincaid of the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association said at the time that the “inclusion of autism and anxiety as conditions has the potential to negatively impact the health and well being of thousands of children in Ohio.”

Carrie Taylor, a mother with two sons who have autism, expressed frustration back then and wondered if autism would ever be covered by the state’s medical cannabis law.

“Our voice is not being heard right now,” Taylor said at the time. “These doctors have this thought in their mind, and they’re obviously set in stone where they stand. We’re not trying to give them something that’s not legalized with other medical purposes.”

Brent, the sponsor of the bill that passed out of the House this week, said in January that “if the legislature does not address the public outcry for change, I know it will be brought to the ballot box.”

In addition to Brent’s bill, the Ohio state Senate passed its own bill in December that could also open up medical cannabis treatment to patients with autism.

Under that bill, which was brought forward by a GOP state senator and is now being considered by a state House committee, physicians in Ohio could “recommend marijuana for treatment for any condition if the physician, in the physician’s sole discretion and medical opinion, finds either of the following”: “that the patient’s symptoms may reasonably be expected to be relieved from medical marijuana” and “that the patient may otherwise reasonably be expected to benefit from medical marijuana.”

The bill would also explicitly add arthritis, migraines, autism spectrum disorder, spasticity or chronic muscle spasms, hospice care or terminal illness, and opioid use disorder to the list of qualifying conditions.

Should that bill become law, it would be the biggest change to Ohio’s medical cannabis program, which launched in 2016.

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South Carolina senators will debate a bill to legalize the medicinal use of cannabis this week after an eight-year effort to bring the proposal to the floor of the state Senate. If passed, Senate Bill 150 would allow patients with certain debilitating medical conditions to use medical cannabis products. A companion measure, House Bill 3361, is also pending in the South Carolina House of Representatives.

Last week, Senators unanimously agreed to assign special order status to the bill, which faces strong opposition in deeply conservative South Carolina. As a legislative priority, senators will be required to approve or reject the bill before moving on to other legislation. Debate on the bill is expected to begin Tuesday or Wednesday of this week, according to media reports.

The measure, known as the South Carolina Compassionate Care Act, was first proposed in 2015 by Republican Sen. Tom Davis. In 2018, the Senate Medical Affairs Committee advanced the bill to the Senate floor but senators opposed to the measure blocked the legislation from coming up for debate. At the close of the 2021 legislative session, Republican leaders promised Davis that the bill would come up for a vote this year.

“If you pound at the door long enough. If you make your case. If the public is asking for something, the state Senate owes a debate,” Davis told The Post and Courier. “The people of South Carolina deserve to know where their elected officials stand on this issue.”

South Carolina Medical Cannabis Bill Contains Strict Limits

The Compassionate Care Act would allow patients with one or more qualifying health conditions to use cannabis medicinally. Qualifying debilitating medical conditions include cancer, multiple sclerosis, a neurological disease or disorder (including epilepsy), sickle cell disease, glaucoma, PTSD, autism, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, cachexia, a condition causing a person to be home-bound that includes severe or persistent nausea, terminal illness with a life expectancy of less than one year, a chronic medical condition causing severe and persistent muscle spasms or a chronic medical condition for which an opioid is or could be prescribed based on accepted standards of care.

Smoking cannabis would not be allowed. Instead, patients would have access to medical marijuana products including vaporizers, topicals, and patches. Patients would be allowed to purchase up to a two-week supply of cannabis products at a time.

The bill also establishes rules for physicians to recommend medical cannabis and regulations for the production and sale of medical marijuana, including a requirement that cannabis dispensaries complete a licensing process every two years. Dispensaries would be required to contract with a state-licensed pharmacist, physician’s assistant or clinical practice nurse with training in the medicinal use of cannabis. Cannabis products would be subject to testing and labeling requirements and a seed-to-sale tracking system would be established to monitor transfers of medical marijuana products. Davis said the legislation would create the nation’s strictest medicinal cannabis program.

“I want to empower physicians. I want to help patients who could benefit from cannabis to alleviate their medical conditions,” Davis told reporters. “But I want it to be tightly regulated and controlled. I don’t want it to be a precursor to adult recreational use.”

Advocates Back Legislation

The South Carolina Compassionate Care Act is supported by medical cannabis advocates including Jill Swing, the founder and president of the South Carolina Compassionate Care Alliance. She believes her daughter would benefit from medical cannabis.

“Mary Louise shouldn’t have to continue to suffer and other patients across the state shouldn’t continue to suffer when this medication is available in 36 other states,” said Swing.

“I genuinely hope that every single Senator that walks into that chamber opens their minds and their hearts,” she added.

But Davis’ bill is opposed by law enforcement leaders, who cite public safety issues and the fear that permitting medical marijuana will lead to the legalization of recreational cannabis.

“If marijuana is medicine, it should be regulated as every other medicine is regulated. We are aware of no other medication that has to be approved by the General Assembly,” said Jarrod Bruder, executive director of the South Carolina Sheriff’s Association. “This (bill) includes a lot of other things — including vaping, including edibles. This is not going to your local pharmacy — it’s going to a dispensary. This is not being treated like every other medicine is.”

Kevin Tolson, the executive director of the law enforcement group, said in a statement that legalizing medical cannabis in South Carolina would lead to increased traffic accidents and financial crimes by cannabis businesses.

“I understand supporters of this bill are seeking to bring comfort and relief to friends and family members who are suffering from debilitating illnesses,” Tolson wrote. “But I can’t endorse or even ignore the attempt to provide relief through illegal methods, especially when those attempts will jeopardize public safety.”

Davis, however, believes that public opinion is on the side of reform. In December, a poll of 300 registered voters found that 54 percent favored legalizing the medicinal use of cannabis, with another 14 percent undecided on the issue.

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More science supports cannabinoid therapies for autism symptoms.

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CNN announced on November 22 that it would be airing the sixth installment of its cannabis series, WEED 6: Cannabis and Autism, which explores the benefits between medical cannabis and symptoms of patients with autism in its debut this weekend. 

Featuring CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, this segment follows the traditional format of the previous WEED series to introduce viewers to firsthand experiences with medical cannabis benefits. “Autism, ASD for Autism Spectrum Disorder, is by definition a wide array of behaviors. Whether mild or severe, two core symptoms are social communication challenges and restrictive or repetitive behaviors,” CNN states in a press release. “In WEED 6: Cannabis and Autism, viewers will meet researchers, doctors, and families, some of whom are coming out publicly for the first time, and will see in real-time how life-changing the plant can be for them.”

The first WEED documentary released in 2013, and opened up an entirely new discussion on the stigma of weed. The honest headline of Gupta’s 2013 CNN article “Why I changed my mind on weed” directly opposed his 2009 TIME article “Why I would vote No on Pot.” 

In his 2013 article, Gupta apologizes for letting the cannabis stigma prevent him from seeing the plant’s true potential. “Well, I am here to apologize,” he wrote. “I apologize because I didn’t look hard enough, until now. I didn’t look far enough. I didn’t review papers from smaller labs in other countries doing some remarkable research, and I was too dismissive of the loud chorus of legitimate patients whose symptoms improved on cannabis.”

In WEED, he brought the spotlight to Charlotte Figi, a young Colorado girl suffering from Dravet syndrome, who found relief with medical cannabis. She sadly passed away in 2020, but her example has inspired many other parents to seek out medical cannabis for their children.

It’s been eight years since that original documentary released, and Gupta has produced a total of six documentaries with a unique perspective on cannabis. In WEED 2: Cannabis Madness (2014) he dove into the complexities of politics when it comes to medical cannabis. WEED 3: The Marijuana Revolution (2015) continued to review the benefits of medical cannabis. WEED 4: Pot vs. Pills (2018) tackled the devastating effects of the opioid crisis, and how medical cannabis can help. Finally WEED 5: The CBD Craze (2019) explored the boom of CBD and the dangers of an unregulated market.

Since 2013, Gupta has been a strong proponent of medical cannabis, but his involvement isn’t limited to the WEED series. Most recently on October 13, 2021, he appeared on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience where he discussed his stance change on cannabis, and how he publicly came out stating that he was wrong about medical cannabis.

Gupta also provided insight about the problem with many medical studies now being conducted on cannabis. “If you’re just looking at papers—well, this one potential long harm, this one possible addiction, this one gateway—you know, you’re seeing all those individual studies, but at a broader level, one step upstream, you realize that most of the studies that are getting funded are designed to look for harm,” Gupta told Rogan. “When I saw that, that was the first time I thought, ‘well, why are the studies that are getting out there, why are they all designed to look for harm?” he said. “Then I started looking at other countries, and some really good research out of places like Israel in particular.”

WEED 6: Cannabis and Autism will debut on November 28 at 9 p.m. ET on CNN live, and can also be watched on the channel’s live streaming service, CNNgo.

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