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Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta has taken to national television to apologize about information he gave to the American public. Gupta, who is now the chief medical correspondent with CNN stated that his previous belief that medical marijuana was dangerous was misguided. Gupta's lastest documentary, Weed, which airs this Sunday on CNN, will explore the facts about medical marijuana.

With new legislation approving the use of medical marijuana in numerous states, the debate regarding the legalization of this drug has definitely swayed towards the pro-legalization side. Now, Gupta explains why he has switched sides. In 2009, Gupta strongly opposed the use of medical marijuana by penning a magazine article in TIME titled, Why I would Vote No on Pot. Fast forward four years later to today, Gupta has published an op-ed piece on CNN titled, Why I Changed My Mind On Weed.  Gupta explained that his original understanding of weed was skewed by information from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Gupta stated that the did not look into the information provided by the agency and believed for awhile now that marijuana was classified as one of the most dangerous drugs due to scientific proof that it harms the body. However, there was no scientific proof, something that Gupta would have noticed if he looked into it a little more.  

In his op-ed piece, Gupta writes:

Well, I am here to apologize.

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.

 They didn't have the science to support that claim, and I now know that when it comes to marijuana neither of those things are true. It doesn't have a high potential for abuse, and there are very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works. Take the case of Charlotte Figi, who I met in Colorado. She started having seizures soon after birth. By age 3, she was having 300 a week, despite being on seven different medications. Medical marijuana has calmed her brain, limiting her seizures to 2 or 3 per month.

Gupta hopes that other people can make a good and sound opinion about weed without letting false information affect them.