00:00I was in a bad accident in 2015 and I couldn't move and I couldn't get out of the chair half
00:14the time. We tried 36 different medications, none of them worked. This took a course of a
00:19little bit over a year. Once we emptied out the entire medicine cabinet full of options,
00:24I started getting really desperate. So desperate, Josh Donovan chose a route he
00:29swore he would never try. And when the traditional stuff from the pharmacies didn't
00:33work, I had to figure something out. The recovery process came to a halt when he
00:38couldn't withstand the pain during therapy. When Donovan's doctor suggested
00:42medical marijuana, he really had to think about it. It never crossed my mind. I'd
00:46never done it as a teenager. I was against it. I really didn't like the sounds of it,
00:50but I was so desperate. I would, I would have licked a toad if it would have helped
00:55me. They deserve the dignity of treatments that can be safe and effective when
01:01everything else is failed. His doctor Patricia Hereford started him on low
01:05dosage gummies, ultimately finding a safe point. I was completely sober. Only I just
01:11had about 50% less pain. According to the medical marijuana project, there are
01:15approximately 3.7 million medical cannabis patients in the United States. That
01:20number does not include states that aren't required to report their numbers
01:24with so many patients. Why are doctors reluctant to suggest the drug for pain
01:28relief? There are only about 30% of physicians who feel comfortable
01:32discussing cannabis and that 30% does not include physicians who have a more
01:38intimate knowledge of the cannabis potential therapeutically. Hereford points to
01:44drug scheduling as the issue. Marijuana is currently a schedule one. Other
01:49scheduled ones include heroin and methamphetamine. According to the drug
01:53enforcement agency, marijuana is more dangerous than cocaine, oxycodone or
01:58fentanyl. As a result, Hereford says many doctors are afraid to suggest the drug as a
02:02method of treatment. And so by having them scheduled in a lower classification, I think
02:07it takes a bit of that stigma away, not only for the patients, but for physicians.
02:11Straight Arrow News recently toured a medical cannabis processing plant. What we saw was
02:19similar to any pill making facility. Special attention is made to hygiene and safety. Scientists
02:25sit in a lab working on various mixtures to target certain disorders. Yet this treatment
02:29is sold at a cannabis dispensary, not a pharmacy. This is one reason why some groups are so concerned
02:35about rescheduling or legalization. There's no other medication where a doctor gives you a card that lets
02:41you get an unlimited prescription of an intoxicating substance at a commercial retail operation that is
02:49operated by people who aren't necessarily medical professionals or nurses or trained pharmacists. Jordan
02:56Davidson is the government affairs director for smart approaches to marijuana. The organization was created
03:01to educate legislators on the benefits of science based policy, keeping it out of the hands of
03:07commercialization. There's no reason we can't reform within the system and do more to loosen research
03:13restrictions without actually rescheduling the drug because that is really the first step to
03:18addiction for profit. Back in August, President Donald Trump said his administration is looking at
03:23reclassifying the drug. Some people like it. Some people hate it. Some people hate the whole concept of
03:28marijuana because if it does bad for the children, it does bad for people.
03:31They're older than children, but we're looking at reclassification and we'll make a determination
03:37over the next, I would say over the next few weeks. Congressman Gerald Nadler also reintroduced a
03:41bill calling for decriminalization of marijuana. The Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act,
03:47also known as the MORE Act, removes marijuana from the list of scheduled substances under the
03:53Controlled Substances Act and eliminates criminal penalties for any individual who manufactures,
03:59distributes or possesses marijuana. The legislation currently sits before the Judiciary Committee.
04:04Right now, 24 states and Washington D.C. have legalized adult use cannabis. 40 states have legalized
04:12medical cannabis. Donovan lives in Missouri where cannabis is legal. He admits it took at least a year
04:17to see a year to see improvements. I could not raise it above my shoulder and now I have full range of motion in both arms
04:24and everything else. But that's from, you know, medicating and then being able to survive the exercises to get your range of motion.
04:32He credits the drug with helping him get back on his feet and build enough strength to return to work.
04:37Donovan admits the experience has changed his perspective. I'm not here to beat the drum saying that this is right for everybody.
04:45I'm just saying that if you're responsible and you
04:50do it responsibly, you can have really great results with it.
04:53For Straight Arrow News, I'm Diane Duenas.
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