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Call it what you like.

Why do we call it 420?

And ask us
anything you want.

Is weed really gonna
give me the munchies?

Can I really get
a contact high?

Everything you wanted
to know about weed.

Is my weed safe to smoke?

Why is vaping dangerous?

- And then some.
- How do I grow it?

- Will pot improve my sex life?
- So many questions.

How many joints
can one dude smoke?

Maybe you think you know.

Maybe you have no idea.

- But don't be paranoid.
- 'Cause we've got the answers.

Sometimes it seems
like the whole world

is going to pot.

So why not kick back...

...as we take you
through the high and low of it.

You meet up with your friends
and they're getting stoned.

One is taking hits from a bong.

The others passing
around a joint.

You say, "No, thanks."

But they've been lighting up
for a while,

and smoke fills the air

in the room
where you're all hanging out.

Is it possible that the smog
might be giving you

a bit of the fog?

Could you be experiencing a...

That would almost
certainly be...

It is only in the most
extreme circumstances,

like packing tightly into
a small, unventilated space

with numerous people
actively smoking lots of weed

over an extended period,

that you could maybe inhale
enough second-hand smoke

to actually catch a buzz.

Even if you do,

it's highly unlikely
that you absorbed enough pot

to fail that drug test
at work on Monday morning.

The weight on a scale,

the calendar date,

or the time of day.

Which inspired
one of the modern era's

best known numerical references?

420's origin story

can be traced back
to San Rafael, California

in the 1970s

and a group
of high school friends--

a posse of stoners
who called themselves...

Every day after school,

the Waldos met up to get stoned

at exactly 4:20 p.m.,

and thus a code name was born.

420 was no longer just a number,

no longer just
a stroke of a clock.

420 was now shorthand for weed,

at least amongst five friends
growing up and smoking up

just across the bridge
from San Francisco.

So how did the Waldos'
secret slang go global?

It turns out
that at least one of the Waldos

comingled with members
of the Grateful Dead

at the band's rehearsal space
in San Rafael.

It's assumed the Dead
and some of their fans

picked up the term there

before carrying it back
to the Haight

where it spread
amongst the hippies

who, in turn,
took it on the road with them

as they followed the band
all over the map

in the '70s and '80s.

Eventually,
"High Times" magazine

became hip to the term
and amplified it.

Now a part
of the universal lexicon,

420 has even inspired
an unofficial holiday,

and we're guessing
you know what day that is.

***

It's an age-old question
that many feel was settled

when Bob Dylan introduced
the Beatles to marijuana

in 1964.

Paul McCartney has been quoted
as saying the inspiration

behind the band's seminal
"Sgt. Pepper" album

can be summed up
in one word--pot.

So, does cannabis make people
more creative?

Talk to any musician,
any artist,

even the average person,
they'll say it does.

The first time I used cannabis
was in college

performing a lot
of classical and jazz music.

And particularly with jazz,
the use of cannabis

was a way for me
to get outside of my own head

and really sort of explore
new ideas

that I didn't even realize
were in there.

Memphis-born singer,
songwriter Jozzy

is responsible for turning
Billy Ray Cyrus all hip hop

on the smash hit remix
to Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road."

* Hat down, cross town,
livin' like a rock star *

* Spent a lot of money
on my brand-new guitar *

Jozzy, who cowrote the track,
credits her creative prowess

on the record-setting
chart-topper

to the power of pot.

* Ridin' down Rodeo
in my Maserati sports car *

The thing about Billy Ray
and the thing about his wife

is that they're
avid weed smokers.

That's one thing
I loved about Billy

is he just was relaxed
and he let me just do me.

"You're not gonna go country
on 'Old Time Road.'

It's already country.
You gonna be a rapper."

* Got no stress
I've been through all that *

* I'm like a Marlboro Man
So I kick on back *

That's all we did--
give him cool rap bars.

He got in the booth,
took some puffs,

and we made a banger.

When I write songs, I do not
know what I'm gonna write about

until I get in the booth,

and I really think
that stems from weed.

I love to freestyle.

Everything just comes out,
thin air, from God. Smoke some.

It will tap
into another dimension.

It kinda wakes up
your third eye a little bit.

Cannabis creates
non-linear thinking

and feelings of sort

of a non-ordinary
state of consciousness

and kind of allows you

to get out of your
routinized thought patterns

into something
that is more free flowing.

So there is
what anecdotally people describe

which is that yes,
weed makes you creative.

But if you look
at the official studies,

there's more complexity
and nuance to this question.

You might take risks that you
wouldn't otherwise take--

a creative risk.

Like, you might try something
that you hadn't tried before

because of decreased inhibition,

and you might produce something
that's really good,

or you might produce something
that's really wack.

It's harder to demonstrate
a causation

between cannabis and creativity

certainly with our
current lab measures.

But as with McCartney and Dylan,

Snoop, Dre, and Wiz before her,

Jozzy doesn't need a study
to tell her what she believes.

She already knows.

I feel like weed,
it relaxes you

to kind of get
to your higher self.

And the best music is made
when I really don't think

and I just let it flow
from the heart.

Like, let this go
and let this go.

***

The bong.

A sacred icon of stoner culture.

A supremely efficient way
of getting far too stoned.

Often made from glass,

a bong is essentially a pipe

that funnels smoke
through a water chamber,

the liquid acting as a filter

softening the harshness
of the smoke.

[coughs] Ah, tastes so good.

Scott Deppe is perhaps the most
revered bong maker in the world.

Although bong-like
smoking devices

date all the way back to ancient
Russia, Ethiopia, and China,

the origin of the modern era
of high-end bongs begins

just like the term 420--
with the Grateful Dead.

From the 1970s through the '90s,

Deadheads would set up shop
outside venues

as they followed the band
from city to city, show to show.

An homage to one of the Dead's
most classic songs,

these makeshift marketplaces
were known as Shakedown Street.

Deadhead life was
a counter-culture caravan

of music, art, and often grass.

One of those along for the ride
was Bob Snodgrass

who is credited
with transforming pipes

into works of art.

He's the godfather
of the glass pipe industry.

For decades, Bob's one-of-a kind
technicolor designs

mesmerized the hippies
on Shakedown Street,

one of whom just happened
to be Scott Deppe.

My brother came back to camp
with this pipe

that he had gotten
from Snodgrass.

It was the coolest thing
in the world to me.

Start to finish,

one bong can take Scott
and his team of 40

anywhere from one to six months
to complete.

Less than 20 years ago,

Scott's profession was
generally conducted in secret.

As recently as 2003,

in a series of raids
dubbed Operation Pipe Dreams,

the DEA launched
a nationwide takedown

on bong manufacturers.

There's another illegal industry

that is integrally linked
to the drug trade.

It's the drug
paraphernalia business.

That was then. This is now.

Today, artists like Scott

no longer operate
in the shadows.

Where weed is now legal,

so, too, are the mechanisms
for smoking it.

I knew it was
gonna happen someday.

And business is booming.

Hell, if you've
got 100K to spend,

this bong could be yours.

[snorts]

***

Hi, and welcome to another
edition of "Drunk or Stoned."

Thanks for joining.
Let's get this party started.

Our first question tonight

is you're acting
a bit clumsy right now,

feeling more sloppy than spacey.

Are you drunk or are you stoned?

Drunk.

- [bell dings]
- Drunk is right.

The alcohol you've downed

is messing with the part
of your brain

that controls balance
and movement--the cerebellum--

in a way that weed just doesn't.

All right. Next up.

If you're not careful
and practicing moderation,

the substance
you're ingesting right now

could kill you before morning.

Are you getting drunk
or are you getting stoned?

Stoned.

- [buzzer]
- Wrong.

The answer is drunk.

Every day, six people die
from alcohol poisoning

while there has never--
that's right, never--

been a documented case

of anyone dying
from an overdose of weed.

So, you're not dead,
but you do feel like shit.

The room is spinning.
You've got a headache,

and you're feeling
slightly nauseous.

Were you drunk last night
or were you stoned?

Drunk.

- [bell dings]
- Drunk is right.

And you're hungover.

Your buddy, on the other hand,
just texted you

to say that he had amazing sex
last night.

Was he drunk like you,

or did he choose
to get stoned instead?

Uh, given that I can't even
remember last night,

I'm gonna say he was stoned.

[bell dings]

You are correct.

While alcohol numbs the body,

weed, as long as you
don't overdo it,

enhances your sensations.

More sensation
means more pleasure,

and more pleasure
means better sex.

Oh, and by the way,
you get a bonus point

for answering our next question
before we even asked it.

If you can't remember
last night,

you're experiencing a blackout,

and that means you were drunk
last night, not stoned.

But remember, or maybe not,

weed can have an impact
on your short-term memory.

So we'll check back
in a little while

to see if you remembered
that you just won

this installment
of "Drunk or Stoned."

[ applause ]

***

The cannabis plant
comes in all shapes and sizes,

but it's what's inside
that counts.

Each cannabis plant
might contain any combination

of more than 100
chemical compounds,

most of them concentrated
in the buds of the plant.

Of those compounds,
you've probably heard of two--

THC and CBD.

But what sets
these two compounds apart?

THC will get you high.

CBD will not.

THC speeds up your heart rate.

CBD slows it down.

Both compounds
have medicinal value

with research suggesting
pain relief is best achieved

when the two are taken together.

There's just
one little problem...

At least not everywhere.

Still banned in most states

where even medical marijuana
remains illegal.

***

Every day,
up to three times a day,

here at
Washington State University,

16 rats are placed

inside specifically designed
cannabis vapor chambers.

I think we can learn a lot

about what cannabis
is doing to the brain

by understanding
how it affects

the development
of the rodent brain.

It's organized
in a very similar fashion.

Inside these plexiglass boxes
are two holes

just big enough
for a rat to poke its nose.

In the first hole, nothing.

Just an open, empty space.

But if the rat sticks its nose
into the other hole,

it breaks a beam
of infrared light,

triggering a reaction.

Weed vapors released
into the chamber,

and a smoke session begins.

Rats are quick to learn
how the hotbox works.

Some don't seem
to like the vapor

and stopped triggering it.

Others thoroughly enjoy
the experience,

returning to the cannabis hole
again and again and again.

For five years,
Dr. Ryan McLaughlin

has been conducting studies
on rats,

aimed at understanding
the effects of cannabis

on human intelligence.

Does weed make us dumber?

Yeah, that's
an interesting question.

What would I say is that weed
certainly changes your brain.

It changes how synapses
are wired.

In one study, Dr. McLaughlin

found that adolescent rats,
teenage rats

consuming more cannabis
in their youth

had greater difficulty learning
new skills later in life,

struggling with brain teasers

like mazes
and other strategy games.

The behavioral impairments that
we're seeing are very subtle,

but they're,
nonetheless, apparent

when we start
to actually challenge them

with a little bit more
cognitively demanding tasks.

These findings are consistent
with other research,

showing that people
who smoke a lot of cannabis

during their teenage years

may risk losing
several I.Q. points

compared to those who don't.

And if you're under
the age of 25,

there's a chance
that too much weed

will have long-term effects
on your short-term memory.

A drug like cannabis is not
necessarily all good or all bad.

There are particular layers
to this

that we need
to really understand

at a very fine-grain level.

Do you feel like your friends
are laughing at you?

Convinced someone
is watching your every move?

Wondering why Fido
is giving you the side eye?

If you answered yes to any
or all the above questions,

you might be stoned.

You might
be experiencing anxiety.

You might be paranoid.

What the hell is going on, man?

More likely than not,
the THC you ingested

in that weed you just consumed

is overstimulating
your amygdala.

Sounds kind of hot, right?

That part of your brain
that processes emotions

is way too excited--

your neural pathways
firing on all cylinders.

We can't tell you exactly
why this is happening.

Scientists aren't sure.

Next time you might wanna smoke
a strain that's less potent

or simply smoke less
of the one you've got.

Lower dosage and lower potency

should both diminish
your chances of freaking out.

In the meantime,
do your best to chill,

relax and ride the high.

Back in the late '90s,

Ricky Williams
was a star running back

at the University of Texas,

a Longhorn
on his way to earning

college football's
highest honor.

But at the age of 20,

Ricky was also
just another student

dealing with the typical
pressures of young adulthood.

Fast-forward to my senior year
in college,

and I was in the running
for the Heisman Trophy

but at the same time going
through a really bad breakup.

And my roommate was a smoker.

He suggested that I try smoking
to help me,

and after smoking, I actually
got a decent night's sleep.

And so it was
my first experience

of what we would now call
medicinal effects of cannabis.

But at the time,
I just registered

that it helped me feel better.

The cannabis continued
to make Ricky feel better

as he graduated from college
into the big leagues.

As I went through the NFL
and started to experience

both physical stress--injuries--
and mental stress,

just being
a professional football player,

I found that cannabis helped.

You know, it helped me
let go of the day

and wake up the next morning
ready to go at it again.

When I talk
to former pro athletes

or current pro athletes
who are using the plant,

I think the most
important benefit

of cannabis and exercise
is just healing the body.

It's wonderful
for pain management.

Recent studies have shown

that cannabis
works particularly well

for many
of the physical problems

facing football players...

...even with repairing the brain
after a concussion.

So it made sense
that Ricky wanted to light up,

but he was also playing
with fire.

When I got traded to Miami,

I came to work one day,
and a guy was right there

and said,
"You're up for a piss test."

About a week later,
I got a letter telling me

that I failed the drug test

and I was entering
the NFL's drug program

which meant that I'd be tested
nine times a month

and I'd have to talk
with a counselor

for an hour each week.

By the early 2000s
when Ricky tested positive,

the NFL had the strictest
drug-testing policies

of any professional sport.

While most leagues recognized
that weed shouldn't incur

as harsh a penalty
as coke or amphetamines,

cannabis users
were always at a disadvantage

when it comes
to peeing in a cup.

Pot stays in your system
up to a month

unlike most other drugs

which would disappear
from your body

after a few days.

I just started to feel
like a criminal and an addict,

and I didn't agree
that I had a problem.

It didn't feel real or accurate.

Somehow it leaked

that I was
in the NFL drug program.

That blow to my image was a lot,
and it got to the point

where I was thinking
there's so many other things

that I'd rather be doing
with my life right now.

And so Ricky made
the extraordinary decision

to walk away from the sport

that had defined him

from the time he was a child.

The story that's told

by the media is that I retired

because I wanted to smoke pot.

That's partially true.

But the moment I retired,

I felt this huge weight
come off my shoulders,

and I felt free.

I felt this spirituality
rise up in me.

The only thing I could think of
to help explain it was seasons.

You know,
spring turns into summer,

and summer turns into fall,
and fall turns into winter,

and it doesn't seem like nature
really complains about it.

It's just this natural shift.

So I made sense of it,
thinking that maybe

the season of football
has come to an end

and it was time
for another season to start.

And that new season
has kept Ricky a busy man.

I founded a wellness
and herbal company.

Founding an astrological
dating app.

I'm in two master's programs.

There have been a lot of
improvements in the past decade

as it relates
to how professional sports

are treating the use of cannabis
for its athletes.

The sensible evolution
for the NFL

would be to do the same thing as
Major League Baseball is doing

which is just to abolish
cannabis testing altogether.

Perhaps Ricky was a man
ahead of his time.

In the summer of 2020,

UT, Ricky's alma mater,

renamed its football field
after him.

I think that
was the first moment

where I felt exonerated.

You know, the fact
that I could have a history

of being a druggie

and giving up all the money
and all the controversy

but still people were interested
in putting a statue of me

up at the university
and honoring me was huge.

It goes to show sometimes
doing what you know is right

is more important
than following the rules.

Like many other products
and activities,

vaping carries a risk
and can be dangerous,

largely because many
of the vape pens

now flooding the market
are illegal and unregulated,

and it's nearly impossible to
determine which ones they are.

Illicit pen manufacturers
aren't playing by any rules,

and some take shortcuts,

employing dangerous methods

and materials,

like using lighter fluid

to extract cannabis oil
from the plant.

To increase profits,

they might dilute
that cannabis oil

with chemicals not recommended
for human inhalation.

And then there's the pen itself,
often made from cheap hardware.

When using these
lower-quality pens,

you may end up inhaling
tiny flecks of heavy metals

into your lungs.

***

The heat of the pen

can also turn otherwise
harmless chemicals into poison.

When, for example, myclobutanil,

a chemical common
is illicit weed oil,

reaches 396 degrees Fahrenheit,

it turns into hydrogen cyanide.

Most pens reach
500 degrees or more.

And did we mention cyanide?

Nearly 90%
of the serious lung injuries

believed to be caused by vaping

have been attributed to
these illegal, unregulated pens.

It should be noted, however,

that even the legal pens
have been around

for only about 10 years,

and little reliable data exists.

So whether you're
vaping nicotine or marijuana,

be wary of the long-term
health consequences

which remain largely unknown.

Hmm. "How will weed
affect my sperm?"

A recent Harvard study

found that cannabis
was actually associated

with increased sperm count.

But--You knew
where was a "but," right?

Research has also shown
that people who smoke weed

have more trouble
getting their partners pregnant.

So more sperm, but maybe they
have no sense of direction

and count quite find
the egg they're looking for?

Most fertility doctors will tell
both members of a couple

to lay off the weed
if they're trying to conceive.

***

Here in the American heartland
lies one state

where marijuana
remains totally illegal.

In Wisconsin,

getting caught
with even a single bud of weed

could land you in jail
for more than three years.

In 2018,

authorities in Wisconsin
made more than 17,000 arrests

for possession of marijuana.

As is the case
around the country,

many Wisconsinites
are using cannabis

not recreationally,

but for medicinal purposes.

Only here, they're still
breaking the law by doing so.

My life is
so overwhelming that...

I just feel like
I can't slow down. I can't stop.

This is Patrick Delooze.

Patrick served in the U.S. Army
for over a decade,

doing two tours of duty in Iraq

in 2006 and 2008.

Like hundreds of thousands
of soldiers

now back from the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan,

Patrick suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder.

Returning soldiers
are often haunted

by memories
of death and destruction...

triggered by seemingly
innocuous events

like a sudden loud noise.

- [explosions]
- [man shouts]

Came back from Iraq, and--

and it was a wild ride,

a long, really hard struggle,

financially, emotionally,

physically.

Patrick now leads
the Wisconsin chapter

of a group called
Weed for Warriors.

I put a nug
in a little pipe that I had,

and I felt a lot better.
I felt more relaxed.

Weed for Warriors

helps veterans around
the country access cannabis

for the purposes of treating the
lingering effects of injuries,

both physical and psychological.

I mean, it's rough,

but, you know,

this slows--

Like, it gives me peace.
It lets me sleep.

The dreams were so gripping.
Scary as...

You got that whole damp spot
in the bed,

wondering what the hell,
who poured water on you.

- Yes.
- That shit's crazy.

A recent study
out of Israel showed

that because cannabis suppresses
one's ability to dream,

it helps PTSD patients
keep nightmares at bay

and allows them to sleep more
peacefully through the night.

I leave a loaded pipe
right next to my bed,

and I'll roll over
at 2:00 in the morning.

That's the hard part.
It's just maintaining a supply.

And it's extremely difficult
to come by.

It's so much easier
to get a pack of smokes

- than it is to get some weed.
- Yeah.

We have to almost force to go
through some high school kids

or something sometimes,
you know. It's ridiculous.

Or deal with the drug dealer
around the corner.

I wish I lived in California

or Colorado or Washington
right now.

In places where legal cannabis
is available,

studies have shown
a significant decrease

in opioid-related deaths

which may suggest

that many of those suffering
from chronic pain

are replacing their pills
with pot.

They should just
be legal nationwide,

- recreationally, and done.
- Yeah.

Let the people decide.

***

Call it a crazy quilt,

the patchwork of state laws

that determine whether weed
is legal and to what extent,

wherever it is that you live.

Though weed is still prohibited
in 15 states

against the law in any form
and under any condition...

As of 2021,

35 states now allow the use
of medical marijuana.

And of those 35,

16 now also allow
the recreational use of weed.

Oh. And don't forget
about Washington, D.C.

They've joined
the recreational party as well.

So, wondering about the legal
status of weed where you are?

Here's the roll call.

[classical music playing]

[music continues ]

[music ends]

In the eyes
of the U.S. federal government,

heroin and weed are considered
equally dangerous drugs,

both designated
Schedule 1 drugs.

Schedule 1 drug
is defined as a drug

that has a very high potential
for abuse

but no medical use whatsoever.

Defining cannabis that way

defies much
of what we now know about weed,

though that knowledge
is largely the result

of research coming
from beyond America's borders.

Israel, the Netherlands,
the U.K., and Canada

are leading the way
in cannabis research.

It was actually in Israel,

and it was
about half a century ago

that they first isolated
and discovered THC.

It was in the UK

that the only FDA-approved
drug derived from cannabis

was developed.

Epidiolex is now used worldwide

to treat patients
suffering from seizures.

U.S. research on cannabis
lags far behind,

complicated by weed's continued
Schedule 1 classification

which discourages scientists
from studying it.

America's Public Enemy Number 1
is drug abuse.

The weed-fueled counter-culture
revolution of the 1960s

prompted the government
to accept

that at least some research on
this increasingly popular drug

might be necessary.

And so the School of Pharmacy

at the University
of Mississippi, Ole Miss,

was granted a contract
to provide standardized cannabis

to researchers
around the country.

More than 50 years later,

it remains the only source
of federally legal weed

anywhere in the U.S.

Most of the research
using weed grown here

is conducted on animals

like Dr. McLaughlin's rats
up in Washington.

Human studies are rare.

There are, however,
a select few individuals

who do receive pot directly
from the Mississippi farm.

In this house

in this suburban neighborhood
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

lives a 67-year-old stockbroker

who also happens
to smoke a lot of weed.

Like, a lot.

- You all ready?
- Yeah. We got you.

I'm gonna light up to do it.

Like clockwork, every month
for the past 38 years,

Irvin Rosenfeld
has been receiving shipments

of marijuana free of charge

in courtesy
of the U.S. government.

I will smoke a joint
one after another

as long as I can
until I decide to go to bed.

Neatly packed into metal tins,

each delivery
postmarked "Mississippi"

contains 300 joints

which raises the question...

Well, as of the year 2020,

Irvin has received and smoked

more than 136,000
government-issued J's.

This is how I've been getting
my medicine for over 38 years.

I believe it's kept me alive,
and it's kept the tumors,

over 200 of them in my body,
from growing.

When Irvin
was just 10 years old,

doctors found bone tumors
ravaging his entire body.

Irvin was told
the condition was incurable

and the tumors would
only multiply as he got older.

The pain was
at times excruciating.

By the time Irvin
was a teenager,

he'd endured numerous surgeries

and was hostage to an
endless regimen of painkillers.

But then Irvin went to college.

It was the '70s,

and he tried marijuana
for the first time.

Irvin quickly realized

that cannabis relieved
the pain in his bones

more so than any medicine
he'd ever taken

or any procedure he'd ever done.

I said, "Gee. I haven't taken
a pill in five to six hours."

And just then the person
to my left handed me the joint,

and I looked at it and said,

"This is the only thing
I've done differently."

Around the same time
that Irvin was having

his own revelations about weed,

researchers at UCLA
were discovering

that cannabis could also help
treat patients with glaucoma,

an eye condition
that can lead to blindness.

In 1978, Robert Randall,
a patient associated with UCLA,

sued the federal government

for the right to legally
use cannabis as medicine.

This led to the establishment
of the...

Which is a long way of saying

the government started
providing Randall

with specially delivered
pre-rolled joints.

Bob Randall, the first American

ever to gain
legal access to marijuana

because of his
glaucoma condition.

He became the first person
in the United States

to receive medical cannabis
from the federal government.

Within a few years,
Irvin and a few other patients

joined Randall in that
experimental government program.

And they just delivered
eight ounces of marijuana

to my doctor that day.
[laughs]

Marijuana--pot, grass,
whatever you wanna call it--

is probably the most dangerous
drug in the United States,

and we haven't begun to find out
all of the ill effects...

In the 1980s, as Reagan
stepped up the war on drugs,

the government kept
its weed program on the downlow,

never enrolling more than
a few dozen people.

[woman chanting, indistinct]

But by the early '90s,

the program
was attracting more attention

when a surge of applicants,

many of them suffering
from AIDS,

sought medicinal relief.

Conservative backlash ensued,

and the government only hardened
its stance on weed.

No medical study has indicated

marijuana is
significantly effective

in controlling
nausea and vomiting.

We were ostracized.

We would argue
for medical marijuana,

and people were against us,
but we knew we were right.

Many in the medical community
believed Irvin was right,

but the government did not,

ultimately closing the program
to new applicants in 1991.

Pain's got a little better.

Though nobody new
would be allowed to join,

those already in the program

would continue to receive
government-supplied weed.

Only two members
of that program survived,

and Irvin is one of them.

Despite establishing the program
for the purposes of research,

the government has never
published any scientific data

on the outcome
of Irvin's weed use

or that of any other patient.

But an independent study
published in 2002

found that several decades
of smoking government pot

had quite positive effects,
with all patients doing well

and taking fewer pharmaceuticals
than before.

When I die, if I can help
someone else live longer,

because of learning more
about my disorder through me,

then it makes me feel good.

I mean,
that's been the whole point

of teaching people
about medical marijuana.

If you said seniors,

65 and overs,

give yourself a tie-dye star.

That's right.
The same generation responsible

for popularizing weed
in the '60s,

is now flocking to dispensaries
in their 60s and 70s

and sometimes older.

Most boomers are consuming
medical marijuana,

eager to relieve
the aches and pains of aging

or looking
for a better night's sleep.

At least that's
what they tell the grandkids.

As of 2019,

travelers are free to enter LAX

carrying up
to 28 1/2 grams of weed.

But...

Once you reach TSA,

you may be SOL.

The TSA is a federal agency,

and weed remains illegal
at the federal level

regardless of what state law
might be in the city

where you're boarding.

So while they're not necessarily
looking to bust you

for that dime bag
in your carry-on,

they just might
if they find it.

If they don't,
it's worth considering

what might happen
when you reach your destination.

Just because weed is legal

in the place
from which you're taking off,

doesn't mean it will be
where you land.

Besides, the plane itself is
also under federal jurisdiction.

So you best not tamper
with that smoke detector

in the lavatory,

and you best be careful
if you're hiding that hash.

***

As recently as 2016,

a study of cannabis sold
at medical dispensaries

in California

found harmful pathogens
in every single sample

that was tested.

Cannabis kind of straddles a lot
of different product categories,

so regulating cannabis
was difficult.

Two years later,

California enacted some of
the nation's strictest controls.

Now...

Cannabis in California
is actually regulated

to a level
that's more stringent

than most
of the consumer products

that we're gonna come across.

So when you purchase cannabis

in a licensed retail dispensary
in California,

you're getting one of
the cleanest consumer products

you can get.

And that's because
of testing protocols

that have been implemented
in state-license labs

all across California.

Like this one here
in Santa Cruz.

First we're testing
for potency or dosage,

and that's testing
for the cannabinoids

that can have
intoxicating effects.

Then we also test
for potential contaminants.

Things like pesticides,
heavy metals, residual solvents.

Among other tests used to sniff
out some of those contaminants,

the lab performs
a technique called...

...which sounds pretty
complicated because it is.

Let's just say
that this process

entices the bad stuff
to reveal itself

by emitting a fluorescent glow.

We also look
for microbiological pathogens

like E.coli, salmonella,
things that make you food sick,

as well as pathogens
like aspergillus

that can be especially dangerous
when inhaled

especially
for compromised patients.

Controlling the THC levels

determines the dosage
of a cannabis product.

It's similar to the way
we know the amount of alcohol

contained in any given shot
of vodka.

So those are the standard tests
that are performed

on every batch of cannabis
sold in California.

But those tests
aren't happening everywhere.

Even in some states
that have legalized,

dirty weed is still for sale.

Because of its continued illegal
status at the federal level,

national safety standards
are unlikely any time soon.

So regulating weed
remains a free-for-all,

whether it's the stuff you smoke
or the stuff you eat.

***

Still haunted
by that pot brownie incident

back in high school?

We get it.

Without those fancy
testing machines at labs

like the one in Santa Cruz,

it would be impossible
to predict

just how big that batch your
friend baked was gonna get you.

Today, though, as the demand
for non-smoke weed grows,

the art of controlling the high
you get from edibles

is actually
an increasingly exact science.

That science starts here,

step one in converting
the cannabis plant

into stoner delicacies.

These are custom-built
cannabinoid extraction machines.

Cannabis plants are dropped
in the top

before super critical
carbon dioxide is deployed

with enough pressure
to crush a human skull.

Over a 10-hour course,

the CO2 strips away most of
the unnecessary plant material

and leaves behind
a thick, foamy yellow goo.

Inside the extracts
are fats, waxes, and THC,

the stuff
that actually gets you high.

The yellow goo
is run through another machine.

This one called a....

The rotovap's
gentle spinning motion

acts like a vacuum,

further stripping away
excess water, wax, and fat.

What's finally left behind
is an oil

made up almost entirely now
of nothing but cannabinoids.

And yet, a swig of this oil

wouldn't actually
get you stoned,

at least not yet.

To activate the THC
in the cannabinoids,

you need to add heat.

And once you do,

the result
is an ultra-potent oil.

Now, if you drink a cup of this,

it will in fact
get you very, very high.

Luckily, once in this form,

potency can be
carefully controlled,

allowing processors to determine
precisely and consistently

the exact strength
of each of their products.

But consume with caution.

The effects may vary widely
from person to person

even if you're chowing down
on the same dosage.

FEMALE SINGERS:
* Bye-bye, blues *

* Bye-bye, blues *

* Don't cry
Don't sigh *

* The sun is shining
No more pining *

***

* Ohh *

* Bye-bye
Bye-bye, blues *

So, who's got the munchies?

Munchies?
Did someone say munchies?

[crunching]

Nachos. Pop-Tarts.

A double chili cheeseburger
with bacon.

How about a pepperoni pizza

with Spicy Ranch
to wash it down?

Long a cliché of stoner culture,
the munchies are actually...

Like an actual
scientific thing.

Blame it on the THC which flips
a switch in your brain,

triggering the release
of a hormone

that tells your body
it's starving

even when it's not.

While that might do little more

than inspire
a midnight snack or two for you,

THC is providing
real medical benefit

to those who are sick,
restoring the will to eat

in patients
undergoing chemotherapy,

suffering from AIDS
or other conditions

that cause loss of appetite.

THC is helping them
find strength

at a time when they need
all the strength they can get.

Worth over $40 billion,

weed is the second most
valuable crop in the country,

topped only by corn.

And as its legitimacy grows,

thousands are now eager to join

one of America's
fastest growing industries.

- Good morning, Oaksterdam.
- Good morning!

Ah, wonderful to have you
this morning.

In Oakland, California
sits Oaksterdam University,

America's first
cannabis college,

attracting students
from around the world

with a wide-ranging
cannabis curriculum,

offering classes on everything

from cultivation
to business administration.

I didn't really pay attention
in school.

I didn't really care
about grades.

But when it to cannabis,

I was always just researching
and constantly learning more.

When I was studying
in university,

every time the class
would get boring,

I would take out my cellphone
and check weed business.

I was like,
"Why am I not starting this?

There has to be something."

I searched it up,
and I ended up here.

Oaksterdam was founded in 2007

and counted 20 students
among its first class,

long before recreational weed
was legal.

But now that it is,
the school has transformed

into a thriving,
job-training center

where enrollment
continues to grow.

I'm almost done. I'm in week 12.

I've been learning a lot,

and I hope to own
a cultivation facility.

My future goal for the industry

is to cultivate
specific strains for patients.

Education advocacy.

I want to own a dispensary.

Packaging and transportation
company.

Knowledge is power for sure,
but so is money,

and you're gonna need
that, too,

if you plan on starting
your own weed business.

That requires obtaining
a special license

usually from either the city
or the state.

But only so many licenses
are issued,

and along with huge fees
and complicated restrictions,

competition for the few that are
drives up the costs.

On average in California,

there are reports
on the retail level

of people purchasing
dispensary licenses

for about $2 million
to $10 million,

but it fluctuates.

If you do manage
to clear that financial hurdle,

your criminal record
better be clean.

Most cities and states bar those
with drug-related offenses

from entering the industry.

And as a result, some have been

disproportionately
denied opportunities.

If you have a felony,

you're much more likely
to be Black or Brown

because of racial disparities.

It became very clear
how unfair that is

and how that excludes
communities of color.

We wanna make sure

that we're not excluding people
based on felonies.

Here in Oakland,

they've established
a social equity program.

Those with cannabis-related
criminal records

pre-dating legalization

or those that grew up
in overpoliced communities

during that same time

are move toward
the front of the license line.

It's essentially reparations
for the war on drugs.

Having an element
of restorative justice

where we put back
into the communities

that were so abused,

it's simple justice.

It will make a big difference.

And people of color,
particularly young Black men,

see they are no longer
going to be marginalized,

that they're going to have
a little piece of this action.

I think it will have
a very profound effect.

[siren blaring]

Believe it or not,

despite being legal
in 35 states,

more people
in the United States

are still arrested
for marijuana violations

than for any other reason.

More than 650,000 people
busted every year,

but very few
will actually land in prison.

And if they do, chances are
their stay won't be long.

These days,

the multi-decade sentences
of the war on drugs

are mostly a thing of the past.

But being arrested for weed

can still totally mess up
your life.

Posting bail.

Hiring a lawyer.

Court fees.

A single joint
could end up costing you

tens of thousands of dollars.

Race continues to be a factor

as the disparities

in the enforcement
of drug laws persist.

While studies consistently show

that are races use and sell
cannabis in equal measure,

Black and Brown people are still
disproportionally arrested

for weed-related crimes

and are more likely to draw
longer sentences if convicted.

So the consequences
of getting busted for pot

can still be costly
and far-reaching.

Want that student loan?

That job?

Even your right to vote?

All of those things
you might want tomorrow

could be affected by the rest
that happens today.

Just ask Johnny Burress.

2010. I'm 25 years old.

I come home to Michigan.

We have a little get-together.

There was no more
than 10 people.

I fall asleep, and I wake up
to loud knocks at the door.

[pounding]

Which were the Grand Rapids
Police Department.

They found marijuana.
It wasn't even on my person.

But it was my house,

so I was the one
that took the fall,

and I went to jail for it.

Johnny spent
just three days behind bars,

but a decade on has been unable
to put that arrest behind him.

Still haunts me on my record
to this day.

Everything that I do
that I have to put my name on

or I have to get
a background check,

this pops up.

2017, I applied for seven or
eight different places to live,

and all of 'em
said the same thing.

They told me
that I have this on my record.

They turned me down.

Eventually,
Johnny managed to land a job

coaching high school football

and working
with special needs students.

When I got the job, I was
handed some papers as well.

And the papers stated to me
that there's a zero-tolerance

for me to have
any police activity

just because of my record.

It was kind of scary
because I'm a Black man,

and if I get pulled over,
I lose my job.

And I'm like, "I'm a major
factor in these kids' life."

I'm one of two Black staff
in the school.

I was hoping
that everything on my record

was gonna get expunged,
but that was not the case,

and it's stopping me from being
able to live a productive life.

Out of the 16 states

that have legalized
even recreational use of weed,

Michigan and Alaska
are the only two

that have failed
to clear the way

for residents to expunge
their pot-related records.

I was stopped in my tracks

just because of this case
that happened in 2010.

It's 2020.

They will definitely take
everything you worked for

and make you feel
like a criminal.

[record crackling]

[jazz playing]

Nestled along the Southern
California coastline

is the picture-perfect city
of Santa Barbara,

home to one
of the most hospitable climates

in the United States
for growing weed,

home to about a third

of California's
legal marijuana farmland,

harvesting product for the
state's $3 billion legal market.

Oh, yeah.

This is industrial
cannabis agriculture--

greenhouses cultivating half
a million square feet of weed.

This is just so awesome.

It's like--It looks like
it's dipped in sugar.

Graham Farrar learned how
to grow weed back in college,

nurturing six plants at a time
in his closet.

It's such a cool plant. It's
just so much you can do with it.

Today, Graham is president
of Glass House Farms,

the company that owns
this sprawling operation.

The trichome is basically

the fruit and body
of the cannabis plant.

In those trichomes
are THC and CBD.

Industrial-scale cannabis farms
like this one

require an enormous amount
of light.

Here in Santa Barbara,
sunshine is free.

When legalization happened
in California,

Graham teamed up with Kyle Kazan

whose previous line of work
made him an interesting

but not unusual choice
in partner.

Before I got into all this,

some years ago
I was a police officer,

and so I was actively engaged
in the drug war

which is take people to jail
for growing, using, selling.

In other words,

Kyle used to arrest people
for crimes

like those Graham was guilty
of committing back in college.

These kinds of partnerships
are actually pretty common

in big weed.

Guys like Graham who broke
the law and never got caught

partnering with former enforcers
like Kyle.

The greenhouse
is doing its thing

24 hours a day,
seven days a week.

When those lights come on
after the sun sets,

to keep the plants growing,

these blackout curtains
automatically close

so that for our neighbors

we're not a second moon
out there lighting up the sky.

The humidity goes up,
it raises the temperature.

It burps the vents
to let the humidity out

and then close 'em back down
to keep it warm.

And all these things
are always happening in concert,

and it's pretty cool.

I'm a geek,
so I like this kind of stuff.

When the cannabis Graham grows
is ready for harvest,

the plants are cut,

then hung upside down
to dry for two weeks

at room temperature.

It really allows
all those chlorophylls

and everything to turn
into carbohydrates and sugars

and give it a nice, sweet taste.

In average, we're processing
about 45 pounds of flour,

and our good days,
we're doing about 60,

which is really, really good.

Many of those buds
are then packaged in bulk

and distributed to dispensaries
around the state.

In 2019, Glass House Farms
produced 15,000 pounds of weed.

By the end of 2020, they expect
that number to top 50,000.

So what if I wanted
to grow my own weed?

How would I do it?

***

Okay. Get comfortable

'cause growing weed is not
as easy as growing basil.

But if it's legal
in your state to do so,

here's the rather detailed
blow by blow.

We recommend starting
with a clone.

A clone is a small seedling
cut from another cannabis plant.

You can find one
at a weed nursery or dispensary

in most legal states.

Keep your potted clone
somewhere relatively humid,

away from direct sunlight,

at a temperature
of 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spray the soil once
or twice a day to keep it moist

but not soaked.

When your plant starts
to sprout fan leaves,

your plant is entering the...

It is now ready to be
transferred to a larger pot.

This phase can last
anywhere from three to 11 weeks.

Be sure your plant
gets plenty of light...

When you start to see buds
and start to smell an aroma,

you have reached the...

For the next two
or three months,

you want to expose the plant
to 12 hours of light

and 12 hours of darkness
every day.

You'll know it's time to harvest
when the fan leaves turn yellow

and at least half
the plant's hairy pistils

have turned from white to red.

Cutting at the stem.

Remove each branch
from the plant.

Snip off the larger fan leaves.

Then hang the branches
upside down

in a dark, cool room.

After five to 10 days

when the thinner stems
are dry enough to snap,

trim away
the excess leaves and stems.

Collect the buds
and place them in a jar.

Fill each glass jar
about 75% with buds.

For the first week,

open and close the jars
for a few minutes each day--

a process called burping.

After the first seven days,

you only need to burp the jars
once or twice a week.

After a month or so,

the cannabis
should be ready to smoke,

though some strains
are like fine wine

that get better with age.

Give those two or three,
sometimes even six months

to reach maximum potency.

Hopefully, the smoke
is worth the wait.

***

She calls herself
a rap priestess

and a medicine woman.

Let me ask you this.
Can I burn a little sage?

Okay, you got
to bless the space.

Lizzy Jeff
has been described by others

as a cannabis creative.

What I like to do is break down
the herb with my fingers.

There is something very special

about feeling the medicine
in between your fingers.

Lizzy is the visionary

behind L.A.'s cannabis and
CBD-themed Zen & Kush events

where the faithful,
mostly women,

gather to socialize, celebrate,
and partake in the plant.

What I like to do

is add a little bit
of organic rose petal.

Roses in ancient
Egyptian beliefs

are said to be
the flower of the goddess.

So rose and cannabis do make
a really powerful union.

Weed isn't necessarily
for everyone.

It may not be for you,

but if it is,
you might learn a thing or two

and perhaps even derive
some pleasure

from following Lizzy's
very personal

and spiritual approach
to preparation.

I got my papers,

and they're very thin,
organic paper.

Once you break down the herb,

you just pack it on
in the paper.

I get it real tight.

You wanna kind of roll it over.

Kind of like
you're wrapping a burrito.

Then you get to the part,

especially if it's
your personal J--

You just give it a nice lick.

Just take your time.

Practice.

Practice makes perfect.

And then you pinch the bottom.

And then you got
a cute, little skinny.

[laughs]
And that's the thing about it.

It doesn't have to be perfect.

This is for you
for your personal ritual.

It's not about how it looks.

Our relationship with cannabis

can be as powerful and spiritual
as we want it to be,

allowing the medicine
to elevate your consciousness

in a way
where you feel empowered.

You feel ignited.

You feel inspired to contribute
to these evolutionary times.

So thank you for being here.

You being here
tuned into this frequency

is a confirmation that you
have officially stepped

into the next chapter
of your greatness.

Blessings.

***

* Hittin' that weed
in the mornin' *

* Hittin' that weed *

* In the evenin' *

* Hittin' that weed
at midnight *

* Hittin' that weed
at all night *

* Hittin' that weed
on a Monday *

* Hittin' that weed
on a Tuesday *

* Hittin' that weed
on a Wednesday *

* What comes after Wednesday? *

* Na-na, na-na, na-na
Na-na, na-na, na-na *

* Na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na
Na-na, na-na *