dr. abrams has a stash of marijuana in their pharmacy. it is stored next to all the other medications. d abrams is using it to see if it can relieve chronic pain in patients with a rare blood disorder. she is a painter. she was also born with sickle cell anemia and has been in pain for as long as she can remember. >> you can exhale now. >> she says marijuana makes her nearly pain free. >> how long after you smoke do you start to have some sort of relief of your pain? >> instantly. it is like instantly. >> a couple of minutes? >> yeah. afterwards you feel the relief of pain. >> janelle is in the study because she wants to know for sure is marijuana safer and more effective than powerful painkillers and narcotics. >> with marijuana, even though i may be buzzed, i can interact with life more so than with pills. >> it may be the anti-inflammatory effects or even the dulling of pain receptors. regardless, this study could prove to mainstream medicine what millions of marijuana patients already believe. that a plant may be a better pain treatment than the powerful pills that are most commonly

dr. abrams the openly gay oncologist at san francisco general hospital. who begins treating young men with swollen glands to them later find out is the first patients of the aids crisis. his own mother dies of the disease did he observes the sugarman survives one support group and another and another in in one of the beating age -- aids practitioner trying to advocate does this herb have beneficial medical value? he was the unlikely protagonist. people from all over the country from the north coast of california to become part of the movement. with 3 percent of the electrical use in california. there is a huge migration of people drawn and then to come to a california that is now known as the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world. there was a rush because this was the first date to start taking steps of legalization. and there are people that became characters that you never would have expected. >> we're in the era where we see the end of marijuana prohibition. after they have legalized marijuana for recreational use one-third of the populatio

dr. donald abrams, san francisco general hospital begins treating young men with swollen glands who we will later find out are the fist patients of the aids crisis. his own lover dies in the disease, he observes that this young man survives one and then another, pushes for medical marijuana research to try to ascertain, does this herb, in fact, have beneficial medical value. you have people from all over the country who track into the north coast of california to get on the legendary country and get part of this movement. marijuana accounts for 3% of the use in california. there was this huge migration of people drawn here. it's amazing the people that came, the gentleman steve deangelo who was from washington, d.c. and comes to california, the largest medical marijuana dispensary in the world. so there was a green rush, there were people that came to california because this was the first state that take the steps and there were people that became characters and drivers of this story who you would never have expect. we are really in the era where we are seeing the end of marijuana prohibiti