Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Legalize Medical Marijuana Nationwide

A revolution is underway, Dr. Sanjay Gupta insists, and its now time to legalize medical marijuana nationwide.

"I see a revolution in the attitudes of everyday Americans," the CNN chief medical correspondent wrote in an opinion piece for the news network. "For the first time a majority, 53 percent, favor its legalization, with 77 percent supporting it for medical purposes," he continued, quoting Pew Research Center polls.

Public opinion is changing in many other quarters as well, Gupta said, including on newspaper opinion pages, in state ballots, and even with politicians who "are now willing to stake their political futures on it."

Scientists are also agreeing with the legalization, and Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has cited data about how medical marijuana can be helpful.

Public opinion is also changing among parents and grandparents, as well as law enforcement officials and more, said Gupta, and even in his own family, with his mother telling him she is proud of his fight for legalization, as "you probably helped a lot of people who were suffering."

The network is ready to release its third documentary on the issue, "Weed 3," and Gupta says reactions have changed radically over the past two years since the first documentary came out in 2013.

"You will see what weed really does to your brain, in crystal clear images," he said. "This time around, you will hear from the heads of government agencies earnestly sharing their point of view, both Democratic and Republican senators, and even the president of the United States. This is what a revolution looks like."

"Make no mistake, we have plenty of evidence that the approval and support of the federal government can fast track a revolution at a faster pace than we have yet seen," said Gupta.

"There is now promising research into the use of marijuana that could impact tens of thousands children and adults, including treatment for cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's, to name a few," he continued. "With regard to pain alone, marijuana could greatly reduce the demand for narcotics and simultaneously decrease the number of accidental painkiller overdoses, which are the greatest cause of preventable death in this country."

And it's time for Americans to look at the data, and talk to patients, Gupta said, and he's sure they will come to the "common sense" solution he has: "We should legalize medical marijuana. We should do it nationally. And, we should do it now."

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