American neurosurgeon Dr. Sanjay Gupta had been leading a picture-perfect life. It seemed impossible that perfection could get more 'perfect' but it did when he married his wife!

Dr. Sanjay Gupta is an American neurosurgeon best known for his multiple Emmy Award-winning work as CNN’s chief medical correspondent. As the chief-correspondent, he plays a fundamental role in CNN’s health and medical news. He rose to prominence in recent times when he covered the Covid-19 pandemic on a frequent basis on several CNN shows.

While Dr. Sanjay had an esteemed public life, his 2013 stance on marijuana became the source of controversy that was different from the usual esteemed medical reporter image the doctor enjoyed. 

Having numerous noteworthy achievements with his media correspondence work, it seemed odd for him to revert his opinion on such a highly controversial topic. This was odd, especially since he had been leading a rather private life with his wife, Rebecca Olsen before then. 

Dr. Sanjay also worked on a CNN Documentary called ‘Weed’ that changed the perception of people towards the highly despised controversial plant, marijuana. Wondering why such an eminent person spent so much time on making a project report on a documentary ‘Weed?'

Well, we have gathered some exciting information for you regarding this matter along with his picture-perfect family life, so just dive in!

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Reason For Sanjay Gupta's Change Of Mind 

It seems harsh to believe that as a media personality on health-related issues, Dr. Sanjay Gupta has become almost synonymous with cannabis as a consequence of his “Weed” documentary series on CNN.

Ever since Dr. Sajay Gupta came out with the Weed documentary series on CNN, the neurosurgeon slash reporter became synonymous with the word cannabis while the series aired on the news network. The series was based on the doctor's interviews with various medical leaders and experts around the world. And towards the end of the series, the doctor heavily leaned towards marijuana for medical use. 

This was in opposition to his view on the same topic back in 2009. Back in 2009, In the 2009 column of Time magazine, Dr. Sanjay had previously written that despite all the talk about the medical benefits of marijuana, smoking it did not do any perceived good to people's health.  

However, he reversed his stance in 2013's editorial, saying that he and also apologized for not looking hard enough at the issue before he made his claims. He added to his apology admitting his part in helping to mislead the population. 

We have been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States, and I apologize for my own role in that.

He also stated that we all had been terribly and systematically misled for nearly 70 years in the United States with the belief that weed is only harmful to human beings, and he also asked for forgiveness for his role in that.

Moreover, Dr. Sanjay published detailed reporting on marijuana's benefits while criticizing the laws that prevented a patient's access to medical marijuana.

Moreover, Dr. Sanjay publicized that in the process of working on a documentary about marijuana he had changed his mind about the weed's risks and benefits. He criticized the laws beforehand that permitted patients access to medical marijuana.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains his change of stance on marijuana for medical purposes

Furthermore, Dr. Sanjay stated in the interview that Drug Enforcement Agency, who listed marijuana in the category of the most dangerous drugs and claimed that cannabis has ‘no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse,’ have no scientific evidence to support that claim.

Regarding the existing government laws, Dr. Sanjay stated in his interview that the Drug Enforcement Agency's (DEA) listing of marijuana under 'the most dangerous drugs', and ‘no accepted medicinal use and a high potential for abuse,’ had no scientific evidence to support that claim.

In fact, he believed that sometimes marijuana was the only thing that did work.

In fact, he believes that sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works!

Dr. Sanjay recommended the case of Charlotte Figi, who he met in Colorado. Charlotte started having seizures soon after her birth. By the age of 3, she was having 300 a week, regardless of being on seven different medications.

But now, medical marijuana has calmed her brain, controlling her seizures to 2 or 3 per month.

With his work on 'Weed' documentary has apparently changed his stance, and Dr. Gupta is, today, just as emphatic about the medicinal and healing value of cannabis.

Sanjay Gupta On His Mother: The Woman Who Shaped Him

Dr. Sanjay Gupta was born on 23 October 1969 and received his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. His mother was an immigrant from the other side of the world who lived as a refugee for the first part of her life in America after fleeing the bloody India-Pakistan partition in 1947. 

After a successful career as a journalist, Dr. Sanjay decided to write about the most important persons who changed his life: Women. He wrote The Women Who Changed My Life— dedicating it to many powerful women in his life, most importantly, his mother:

In the article, he also wrote about how he visited his childhood home back in 2014 and saw nothing but dust and poverty, with no running water and no paved roads. In his own words, he said that there had been "no hopes and dreams anywhere in sight"; with the highest achievement being just to survive.

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Her mother, at age of 24, was designing cars as the first woman hired in the United States as an engineer at the Ford Motor Co. Her mother's accomplishment was the reason why the word impossible was not allowed in their family, he told.

He also proudly mentioned that after arriving in America, his then 24-year old mother made an unprecedented record as the first woman to be hired as an engineer in the Ford Motor Co. This achievement, he mentions, is the reason why the word 'impossible' was not allowed in their family.

Find Out Sanjay Gupta' Short Bio, Net Worth & Salary

Sanjay Gupta, who has a net worth of $4.5 million, is considered to be one of the most respected journalists on CNN. 

In 2003, Gupta was named one of People magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” and a “pop culture icon” by USA Today.

Sanjay Gupta's Perfect Life With Wife & Daughters

Along with his successful and honorable professional life, Dr. Sanjay also has a perfect life with his wife and children.

He is married to Rebecca Olson, a family law attorney. They married in 2004 in a Hindu wedding ceremony in a private girl's school, near Rebecca's family home.

According to Dr. Sanjay, his wife played a significant role in his successful career at CNN. Supposedly, she was the one to suggest him to try and think of the camera lens as a patient to overcome his initial difficulties working on a television.

Sanjay Gupta with wife Rebecca Olson Gupta on UNICEF'S First Annual Evening For Children (Photo: Getty Images)

Currently, the family resides in Atlanta with their three daughters named Soleil Asha Gupta, Sky Anjahi Gupta, and Sage Ayla Gupta.

Dr. Sanjay, in an interview with Today.com on 31st January 2013, expressed that he has the most prominent concern about his girls and their career.

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Speaking to Today, Dr. Sanjay expressed that his most prominent concern was about his girls and their career. He further revealed that his biggest fear was his girls growing up not liking themselves, and said that his wife and he would do what they thought was right, in terms of their well-being.

He further said that her children wouldn't like themselves, and Sanjay and his wife have to do what they think is right to ensure that their girls will grow up to love themselves.