Lawrence Jones wins Trailblazer award at 2017 NYC Cannabis Film Festival

TheBlaze's Lawrence Jones, along with his producer John Brooks, took home the Trailblazer Award at the 2017 New York City Cannabis Film Festival for their digital short highlighting some of the positive effects of medical marijuana.

The NYC Cannabis Film Festival gives filmmakers a platform to share cannabis-related films. The event, held at the Wythe Hotel on Nov. 12, also presented awards for the best feature film and best short film.

Jones told me he used to believe the only reason people wanted to legalize marijuana was to get "high," but now he has new insight on the highly debated topic.

In March, Jones set out to find out whether there was any validity to those claiming medical marijuana helps their conditions.

His search for answers led him to two people who showed significant improvement from the use of CBD oil.

CBD oil contains high levels of cannabidiol. Cannabidiol is one of the two primary molecules in marijuana; the other is tetrahydrocannabinol or THC. While THC is famously mind-altering, CBD is not.

Jones and Brooks based the short documentary on interviews with patients who are benefitting from the oil.

What Jones learned surprised him.

He discovered that CBD oil helps some of those suffering from debilitating medical conditions.

The 13-minute documentary provides an inside look at Eric, who has cerebral palsy, and a young girl who has severe autism.

Eric started using CBD oil at the request of a friend. His conditioned improved beyond his imagination and he is now a personal trainer.

The parents of a severely autistic child were desperate to find something to help their daughter. So they tried CBD oil. Within three minutes of using the oil, their daughter's self-injury behavior lessened significantly.

To learn more about Jones, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “The Lawrence Jones Show” every Saturday from Noon–3 p.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.