FIVE AT SIX. THE DOSAGE KEPT GETTING HIGHER AND HIGHER. FAMILIES IN CRISIS. I THOUGHT I LOST MY SON. SPEAKING OUT ABOUT A DANGEROUS TREND IN MARIJUANA USE. AND THAT WAS REALLY A KIND OF AN ALARM BELL TO ME. THIS IS LIKE THE PERFECT STORM. SO MARIJUANA, AS YOU KNOW, IS LEGAL IN MASSACHUSETTS. IT’S ALSO A BOOMING BUSINESS. BUT THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT SOME YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BECOMING SERIOUSLY ILL MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY FROM USING THIS DRUG. ARE JESSICA BROWN IS HERE TONIGHT WHEN THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF STORIES ON THIS ON THIS GROWING ISSUE. YEAH. THAT’S RIGHT. YOU KNOW, WE’RE TAKING A DEEP DIVE RIGHT INTO THESE CONCERNS. AND WE CAN TELL YOU WE’RE GOING TO BEGIN WITH A LEADING LOCAL EXPERT WHO SAYS, THIS IS NOT ABOUT SAYING NO TO POT. AGE MATTERS. DOCTOR STACI GRUBER HAS BEEN ON THE FOREFRONT OF RESEARCHING MARIJUANA’S IMPACT ON THE BRAIN FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS. WE KNOW THAT INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE USING IT AT YOUNGER AGES ARE MORE LIKELY TO HAVE CHALLENGES OR MORE PRONOUNCED CHANGES, GRUBER FOUND. THAT’S BECAUSE THE BRAIN IS STILL DEVELOPING FROM ADOLESCENCE WELL INTO ADULTHOOD. YOU CAN SEE IT HERE. THE DARKER THE COLORS, THE MORE MATURE THE BRAIN, LIGHTER INDICATES A BRAIN MORE AT RISK. THE BRAIN IS VULNERABLE BECAUSE IT’S UNDER CONSTRUCTION. SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? GRUBER FOUND ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING IMPACTS OF CANNABIS ON DEVELOPING BRAINS IS WHAT IT DOES TO WHITE MATTER, A CRUCIAL NETWORK OF NERVE FIBERS. I THINK OF IT AS THE WHITE MATTER IN OUR BRAIN IS LIKE THE SUBWAY SYSTEM. IT CONNECTS BRAIN REGIONS FOR FAST AND EFFICIENT COMMUNICATION. YOU CAN HAVE ALL THE HARD WORKING GRAY MATTER IN THE WORLD, BUT WITHOUT INTACT WHITE MATTER, IT WON’T MATTER. THIS IMAGE REALLY HELPS TELL THE STORY. THE YELLOW SHOWS ALL OF THE PLACES WHERE USING CANNABIS REALLY IMPACTS THE BRAIN, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE’RE TALKING WHITE MATTER. NOW, GRUBER SAYS, WHEN YOU FOCUS ON THE YOUNGER CANNABIS USERS, CHANGES ARE EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED, INCLUDING INCREASED IMPULSIVITY, EARLIER AGE OF ONSET, LOWER WHITE MATTER, FIBER TRACT INTEGRITY, LOWER WHITE MATTER, FIBER TRACT INTEGRITY, HIGHER IMPULSIVITY. THIS IS LIKE THE PERFECT STORM. YOU KNOW, WE DON’T SEE A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE WHITE MATTER AND THE IMPULSIVITY IN THE LATER ONSET, FOLKS, ONLY IN THE EARLY ONSET, FOLKS, THE IMPACT OF CANNABIS USE ON YOUNGER BRAINS CAN CAUSE ISSUES FAR BEYOND IMPULSIVITY FROM CANNABIS INDUCED PSYCHOSIS TO MORE SUBTLE CHANGES. SO YOU MAY SEE ALL SORTS OF CHALLENGING BEHAVIORS FROM KIDS. THAT IS SORT OF AN EXTREME VERSION OF WHAT MOST PEOPLE REPORT. THEY SEE IN THEIR TEENS, YOU KNOW, NOT NECESSARILY ALWAYS ABLE TO INHIBIT INAPPROPRIATE RESPONSES. GRUBER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT TEENS USING POT IS NOTHING NEW, BUT SHE SAYS THE MARIJUANA THAT’S OUT THERE NOW IS WHAT’S VERY DIFFERENT, AND THE LEVEL OF THC HAS GONE UP PRECIPITOUSLY OVER THE LAST SEVERAL DECADES. THESE VAPE PENS CAN HAVE NORTH OF 90%. THAT’S 90% THC. THE COMPOUND THAT PRODUCES THE HIGH WHEN IT COMES TO MARIJUANA USE. JUST 20 YEARS AGO, THAT NUMBER WAS MORE LIKE 10%. SO IT’S A VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE FOR PEOPLE. I’M PRETTY CONVINCED THAT THERE MAY BE A DIFFERENCE IN THE BRAIN, ESPECIALLY IF WE’RE TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE WHO ARE VULNERABLE AND PEOPLE WHO ARE JUST USING CONCENTRATES. GRUBER HAS THIS MESSAGE FOR PARENTS AND KIDS JUST SAY NO, DID NOT WORK. SO WE USE JUST NOT YET. YOU KNOW, YOU’RE AN ADULT FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AND IF YOU GIVE YOUR BRAIN THE OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME FULLY DEVELOPED, YOU’LL PROBABLY HAVE A BETTER GO OF IT. YEAH. THAT’S RIGHT. TEAM 5 INVESTIGATES MIKE BEAUDET WRIGHT HAS BEEN LOOKING INTO THIS ISSUE OF HIGH POTENCY CANNABIS AND THE IMPACT THAT’S HAVING ON FAMILIES FOR MONTHS NOW. AND MIKE THE RESULTS CAN BE REALLY DEVASTATING. THEY CAN BE JESSICA. WE MET A HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WHO WAS HITTING THOSE HIGH POTENCY VAPES FROM THE TIME HE WOKE UP UNTIL THE TIME HE WENT TO BED, AND IT DID TAKE A TERRIFYING TURN. I THOUGHT I LOST MY SON. HE WASN’T PRESENT. IT WAS JUST THIS PERSON THAT WAS COMPLETELY MANIC. TOMORROW NIGHT AT 6:00, WHAT THIS FAMILY LEARNED ABOUT THE DAMAGE MARIJUANA CAN REALLY DO, AND THE DOCTORS ON THE FRONT LINE OF THIS GROWING CRISIS, WH