. >> since retiring from a six-year nfl career, nate jackson has been a vocal advocate for the therapeutic properties of cannabis. the league at times hasn't taken kindly to his views. >> thc is the boogeyman has far as the nfl goes. it's the thing that gets you high. it's the thing they test for. it's the thing that scares everybody. >> reporter: still jackson believes roughly 50% of current nfl players use cannabis medicinally. they do it, he says, because the alternative is risky. >> then you see, you know, the people becoming addicted to opioids. i know some myself. and powerful antiinflammatories we used to get in needle form the night before the game. all that to me is unnecessary. if we were able to find a holistic natural alternative that happens to be a lot cheaper, i think everybody wins. >> reporter: that alternative, many researchers believe, could be a molecule inside cannabis called cbd. the u.s. national institutes of health acknowledges cbd possesses neuroprotectant and anti-inflammatory properties. in the case of a concussion, the brain swells or inflames. theories suggest

. >> since retiring from a six-year nfl career, nate jackson has been a vocal advocate for the therapyis. the league at times hasn't taken kindly to his views. >> thc is the boogy man as far as the nfl goes, it's the thing that gets you high and they test for. it's the thing that scares everybody. >> still, jackson believes roughly 50% of current nfl players use cannibis medicinally because the alternative is risky. >> then you see the people becoming addicted to opioids. i know some myself and the powerful anti-inflammatory tris we used to get in needle form before the game, all of that is unnecessary. if we're able to find a who willistic natural alternative that happens to be cheaper, i think everybody wins. >> that alternative many researchers believe could be a molecule inside canny bus called cbd, the u.s. national institutes of health says it neuroprotectant and anti-inflammatory properties. theory suggests cbd could trigger repair mechanisms in the brain to counteract swelling. but sports leagues, they don't want to touch cbd because it comes from cannibis. that's where a san d

. >> reporter: since retiring from a six-year nfl career, nate jackson has been a vocal advocate for the therapeutic properties of cannabis. the league at times hasn't taken kindly to his views. >> well thc is the boogeyman as far as the nfl goes. it is the thing that gets you high, it is the thing they test for. it is the thing that scares everybody. >> reporter: still, jackson believes roughly 50% of current nfl players use cannabis medicinally and they do it, he said, because the alternative is risky. >> and then you see the people becoming addicted to opioids and i know some myself and the powerful anti-inflammatories we would get in needle form the night before the game. all of that to me is unnecessary and if we were able to find a holistic natural alternative that is cheaper, i think everybody wins. >> reporter: that alternative many researchers believe could be a molecule inside of cannabis called cbd. the u.s. national institute of health acknowledges cbd possesses neuroprotect ant and anti-inflammatory prorlts and in the case of a concussion, the brain swells or inflames an

. >> the research, heady stuff if you ask nate jackson. >> we don't want to have pills forced upon us. we don't want to be ravaged from the effect of concussions. we don't want that to be a death sentence. >> the nfl announced in august of 2017 that it will donate $40 million for neuroscience research. jackson hopes the league will also back research into the cbd molecule. >> it could be seen as a tra trailblazer, the first league to study it. >> since it comes from cannabis, how exactly are they growing more of it outside of the marijuana plant? i will take you to the lab and show you. >>> nice day to go for a bike ride. that's what people did in the south bay today. it was the fourth annual silicon valley bike vest fal afestival. food as well as arts and crafts were there. >> bicycling makes people happy and healthy. we hope to get more people to see it as a transportation, commuting and recreation choice. this week is buy to work day this thursday. we hope people will come out for that as well. >> it took place at kelly park in san jose today. >> sounds like we will have many nice

swelling and maybe protect the brain from traum you, from the compound that makes you high is what nate jackson believes if you get the government and major sports leagues behind cbd research. >> if you are able to pull that thc and that frightening aspect, you have no psychotrophic effect and they're afray the whole plan eskts. >> what they are doing that may be ground breaking is refining and improving the natural cbd molecule to make it more potent than reinserting it into micro algae with no connection to marijuana. neurosurgeon tarapor issin creeked. >> this kind of an approach is very interesting. because the plant has the original mol co-- molecule and they could be tweaked in one way or another to be more effective at treating their downstream targets, that is in everyone's benefit. >> so there is the potential that coy be looking right now at something that could ultimately, when we are talking concussion, prevent concussions. >> absolutely. so just as a starter company at about 12 months or a year now, we've probably screened well over 20,000 deferential gee strains and we've produced